The American director Spike Jonze’s Her will be one of the hotly anticipated premieres at the Rome Film Festival.
Marco Mueller, formerly the head of the Venice Film Festival, on Monday unveiled a line-up featuring Iranian, Brazilian, Chilean, Japanese, Mexican and Portuguese films.
Of the 18 films in competition, 17 are world or international premieres, with a strong American and Italian presence in particular.
The US director James Gray, best known for his 2007 crime drama We Own the Night, will head up the jury for the festival, which runs from November 8 to 17.
Mueller said there was no overriding theme linking the films selected: “We chose the ones that moved us, that spoke to our hearts, our guts,” he said.
Jonze’s Her, already a favourite with critics given a first look at the recent New York Film Festival, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a Los Angeles-based man who gets a new operating system on his mobile phone that answers his daily questions.
Scott Cooper’s US thriller Out of the Furnace – produced by Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio – will also have its international premiere. Starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck and Willem Dafoe, it tells the tale of two brothers dreaming of a better life in the poverty-hit Rust Belt, who end up drawn into a spiral of violence with a ruthless gang.
The competition’s ambitious line-up includes Acrid by Iran’s Kiarash Asadizadeh’s, Seventh Code by Japan’s Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Blue Sky Bones by China’s Jian Cui.
Mueller also promised a “return to real Italian comedy” with the opening screening, Giovanni Veronesi’s The Fifth Wheel, about an unlikely everyman hero.
The new Hunger Games instalment, Catching Fire, directed by Francis Lawrence, will open out of competition.
The festival will also host a masterclass with The Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme.
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The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
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The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
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Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
