Larry Clark’s Marfa Girl wins Rome’s top prize

Larry Clark’s small-town drama Marfa Girl has won the Rome Film Festival’s Golden Marc’Aurelio for Best Film.

Clark will release the film, about disaffected youth in a small Texas town, on his website from Tuesday (Nov 20) and has said the film will not get theatrical distribution.

Best Director went to Paolo Franchi for his polarizing drama E La Chiamano Estate, which drew boos and jeers at its press screening earlier in the festival.

Isabella Ferrari picked up Best Actress for her role in the film about a sexually deviant man lacking a physical connection with his wife.

Claudio Giovannesi’s Ali Ha Gli Occhi Azzurri picked up the Special Jury Prize and the Award for Best Debut or Second feature, while Best Actor went to Jeremie Elkaim for his performance in Main Dans La Main.

Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue won the Best Screenplay award for The Motel Life, which also scored the BNL Audience Award.

The international jury, chaired by Jeff Nichols, comprised Timur Bekmambetov, Valentina Cervi, Edgardo Cozarinsky, Chris Fujiwara, Leila Hatami and P.J.Hogan.

In the CinemaXXI competition, Avanti Popolo by Michael Wahrmann won the CinemaXXI feature length film award while the Prospettive Award for Best Feature Film went to Cosimo e Nicole by Francesco Amato.

Brazilian entry My Sweet Orange Tree (Meu Pe De Laranja Lima) by Marcos Bernstein won the award for Best Young Adult Film (carrying a cash prize of €10,000) in the Alice Nella Città section, which touted year-on-year audience growth of close to 20%.

Alice’s Special Prize of the Jury, awarded by a jury of children and young adults, went to Giuseppe Bonitos Italian competition entry Pulce Non Ce.

The New Cinema Network jury, comprising Marie-Pierre Duhamel, Petri Kempinnen and Sandra Hebron, bestowed the €30,000 Eurimages co-production development prize on Mordogan by Jessica Krummacher.

The total festival attendance figure, which is expected to be down on previous editions, has yet to be released.