By any standard, the Rome Film Festival is, indeed, an international event. Significantly, the number of nationalities of films represented at the festival increased from 33 to 46, although the number of films included in the official selection decreased from 117 to 102.

This year’s improvement over last year in all categories shows the organizers were doing something right: the number of visitors increased by 120 thousand to 600 thousand; 110 thousand tickets were sold, up by 8 thousand over last year; and the official website recorded over one million visits during the festival.

And, after ten days of films, red carpets, and numerous special events, the second Rome Film Festival ended on October 27 with the Official Awards ceremony.

The prize for the Best Film was awarded to Juno, director Jason Reitman and featuring Ellen Page (Juno MacGuff) Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker) Jennifer Garner (Vanessa Loring) and Jason Bateman (Mark Loring). The film tells the story of Juno MacGuff, a brilliant teenager in Minnesota who decides to adopt out the baby she is carrying to friends Mark and Vanessa. As the birth approaches their seemingly idyllic lifestyle starts to show cracks and Juno must confront her problems with her head held high.

“There are a lot of very difficult films right now dealing with big issues,” commented Reitman after the awards ceremony, but Juno deals with something everyone can relate to first-hand, the “evolution of the modern family.”

The Best Actress at the Festival was awarded to Jang Wenli for her performance as Wang Ceiling in Li Chun (And the Spring Comes) directed by Chang Wei Gu. The beautiful Wenli had to gain 40 pounds and spend hours in makeup everyday for this role in which she plays an unattractive and lonely Chinese woman blessed with a wonderful voice who dreams of becoming an opera singer in Beijing.

Speaking at the press conference, Wenli said that she was honoured to win this award in Rome, the home of opera, and that she hoped Chinese cinema would continue to thrive in Europe.

The Award for Best Actor went to Rade *erbed*ija for his interpretation of Athos in Fugitive Pieces from Jeremy Podeswa. Adapted from the best-selling book by Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces tells the story of Jakob Beer, Canadian writer of Polish origin who seeks to exorcise his childhood memories as an orphan of the Second World War.

The AAMS Special Jury Prize was given to Hafez from director Abolfazl Jalili for its unique approach to the complex themes of love in the face of religious and social pressures.

The Fastweb award for the best film in the Premieres section was given to Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn which charts the journey of Christopher, a young man who leaves behind the comforts of his privileged life to journey into the harsh wilderness of South Dakota.

A special mention was also given to Giorni e nuvole from Italian director Silvio Soldini.

There were also three prizes given for films within the Alice in the City section: Canvas, from Jospeh Greco, was awarded the K12 Prize for the best feature about a family’s struggle to adjust to mental illness; Meet Mr. Daddy by Kwang Su Park won Young Adult. Park commented on the incredible enthusiasm and interest of the young people at the festivall; and the Unicef literary prize was given to camorra.

The IMAIE Acting Award was given to Sophia Loren for her lifetime contribution to Italian and world cinema.