Which festivals do you particularly rate and enjoy'

Detassis: "I love Cannes above all the other festivals because it's like breathing cinema day and night; even if you happen not to go to a film for two days, cinema is in the air. I love mixing up seeing the films in official competition and the market and particularly love to go out of the Palais du Cinema and into the cinemas on rue d'Antibes. Cannes is the only place that gives you everything together: quality, innovation, market and business, the qualities that are important to us in Rome. I also love Rotterdam, Locarno and small genre festivals like the Courmayeur Noir Infestival (in the Italian Alps) for a type of specialty cinema."

What is the blueprint for a good festival'

Gosetti: To be brave in the official selection, to be close to the business community and to be innovative in the format.

Cavina: A good festival has to stand by the film-makers. It's a festival that has found its own profile and works in co-operation with the other festivals. A good international film festival today cannot just be a showcase of films. It must help the business, now more than ever, and fight side-by-side with the professionals in order to help production, sales and distribution.

Which films have you enjoyed recently'

Rondi: I found the Coen brothers' film (Burn After Reading) splendid and Pupi Avati's Giovanna's Father is "importantissimo!" Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo, and of course I loved Gomorrah.

Detasiss: The Class, The Wrestler more than anything for the performance of Mickey Rourke; The Dark Knight for blockbusters and among Italian films, Il Divo.

Gosetti: Romanian director Adrian Sitaru's Hooked at Venice. I also liked Il Divo, Kung Fu Panda and Haile Gerima's Teza.

Cavina: The Class, Gomorrah, Il Divo, Still Walking by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Burn After Reading by the Coen brothers and Ballast by Lance Hammer.

Are new film-making talents getting to shine through'

Cavina: I think this is the bright side of the lack of American titles available - a lot of room for newcomers. The best parts of festivals show great attention to the new film-makers and ways of film-making. The challenge is to convince the press and the audience they deserve to be discussed and seen.

What are you most looking forward to ahead of this year's festival'

Detassis: I look forward to what the public discovers because they may find something we would never have thought of.