Italian-Croatian wins top prize at Rome film festival

Italian-Croatian director Alberto Fasulo on Saturday won the Rome Film Festival’s top prize with his documentary-style movie TIR.

The film about a Croatian schoolteacher who, attracted by the idea of tripling his wages, becomes a truckdriver who criss-crosses Europe, edged out 17 other contenders for the Golden Marcus Aurelius prize for best film.

The jury headed by US director James Gray awarded the prize for best director to Japan’s Kiyoshi Kurosawa for Seventh Code, an industrial espionage action flick.

A special jury prize went to Quod Erat Demonstrandum by Romanian director Andrei Gruzsniczk, in which a mathematician draws the wrath of state police by getting an article published in a US magazine without the permission of the authorities.

American Matthew McConaughey won best actor for his role in Dallas Buyers Club by Jean-Marc Vallee, while his compatriot Scarlett Johansson was awarded best actress for her performance in Her by Spike Jonze.

This year’s festival saw a 20 per cent spike in ticket sales compared to the 2012 edition, with some 150,000 people attending.

Festival director Marco Mueller, who formerly headed up the Venice film festival, said he aims to put Rome once again on the international cinema map.