Fur to Premiere in Rome

In only its first year of life, the RomeFilmFest (See how they mush the words together? That's a sign of hipness.) is pulling out all the stops in an effort to compete with its financially trouble big brother in Venice. Though the full slate won't be announced until the end of September, proud RFF officials revealed this weekend that Steven Shainberg's much-anticipated Diane Arbus biopic Fur will hold its world premiere in Rome, opening the Festival on October 13. And, as if that's not enough, Nicole Kidman (the film's star) is expected to attend the screening, making the RFF red carpet the place to be, if only for one night.

In addition to Fur, Fest officials indicated that N -- the first (and, since it stars Daniel Auteuil, surely the best) of the many upcoming Napoleon flicks heading to our screens -- will premiere in Rome, with costar Monica Bellucci in attendance. It's also expected that Mira Nair's (Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala) The Namesake will appear, shortly after its world premiere in Toronto.