Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic revisited the horrors of war in his gut-wrenching film Triage as the Rome film festival kicked off on Thursday. After surviving war, I feel touched by every conflict I see, said Tanovic, whose No Man s Land about the Bosnian war won an Oscar for best foreign language film in 2002 along with many other kudos. You can change the landscape, but not the emotions, he told a news conference. Based on the eponymous novel by Scott Anderson, Triage recounts the harrowing experience of two British photojournalists covering the Iraqi-Kurdish conflict of 1988. If I could write, I would write a book like this, said Tanovic, who wrote the screenplay based on Anderson s work. The title refers to the grim task of a field medic who must favor the potentially walking wounded over those who should be put out of their misery with a bullet to the head - administered by the doctor. Veteran British actor Christopher Lee, 87, plays a psychiatrist delving into the causes of the post-traumatic stress disorder exhibited by Irish star Colin Farrell s character Mark Walsh. Lee recounted having seen such mercy killings at firsthand when he served in World War II. You never forget, he said. Of Triage, he said: I think it s one of the best films that I ve ever seen about war because it s not just about battle.... It s about human reactions and human behavior and how people feel on both sides. The fourth edition of the Rome film festival, which runs through October 23, will see top US stars gracing the red carpet including George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Richard Gere. Clooney stars in the only US film in competition here this year, Up in the Air, a comedy about a stressed-out executive by Jason Reitman, who won here with Juno in 2007. Streep is to receive a career Marcus Aurelius award while starring as American TV chef Julia Child in the acclaimed Julie & Julia by Nora Ephron, to be shown out of competition. Another non-contender is A Serious Man by Joel and Ethan Coen. On Friday, French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg will follow her controversial Cannes entry, Antichrist, starring in the out-of-competition world premiere of The City of Your Final Destination, by James Ivory with Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney. Also Friday, Gere will unveil his latest movie, Hachiko: A Dog s Story by Lasse Hallstroem, about a college professor s bond with an abandoned dog co-starring Joan Allen. Then Rome mayor Walter Veltroni created the festival in 2005 aiming to make it a major draw on the international cinema calendar. But this year - the second year under Veltroni s right-wing successor Gianni Alemanno - the event is a day shorter, with 14 films in competition compared with 20 in 2008 and the budget slashed to ?12 million ($17.5 million) compared with ?15.5 million last year. The jury led by US director Milos Forman ( Amadeus ) includes Algerian novelist Assia Djebar, Austrian actress Senta Berger, Italian director Gabriele Muccino and Russian filmmaker Pavel Lounguine. The audience also gets a vote to decide the feature worthy of the public s award.
