Hollywood A-listers might not be as welcome on the red carpet at Rome's Film Festival under new plans for the event by the city's freshly appointed mayor Gianni Alemanno.
Appointing a new festival head on Tuesday, Alemanno hinted that the festival - a pet project of ex-mayor Walter Veltroni - will undergo changes by the time its third annual outing comes round in October.
''I don't want to cancel the cultural initiatives of the past but I think we need to promote Italian films rather than Hollywood stars,'' the new right-wing mayor added.
Film-buff Veltroni achieved his dream of bringing a major movie event to the Italian capital in 2006 despite sneers from the cinema establishment and controversy over a clash with the historic Venice fest.
The event has so far been swathed in glitz and glamour, with a host of Hollywood stars decamping to the Italian capital for the festival.
In its first year, Nicole Kidman, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Leonardo Di Caprio, Martin Scorsese and Harrison Ford made personal appearances, while Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn trod the red carpet last October.
The new festival head, Italian director Pasquale Squitieri, wasted no time in blasting the old format.
''What is there to celebrate?'' he asked. ''There's strong industrial dissatisfaction in the sector - Italian cinema barely exists anymore. And so what exactly are we celebrating? Nicole Kidman and Leonardo Di Caprio?''
''The Rome festival has no sense because the best of Italian cinema isn't even invited,'' he added.
''People of the calibre of Milena Canonero, who has won three Oscars for her costumes, remain out in the cold''.
Squitieri, who is married to legendary Sicilian actress Claudia Cardinale, said the new-style festival would focus almost entirely on Italian film.
''The Rome Film Festival is an ugly story: Rome has always been the city of cinema and it certainly didn't need Walter Veltroni to come along and christen it so.
''We need to produce sponsors, invite Italian directors - and some foreigners - to work with us. Put in motion again a mechanism that will mean it is the films themselves that are the desired product.
''No more wasting money. Rome must invest in production,'' he said.
Squitieri's vision immediately won support from Gianluigi Rondi, president of the David Donatello Awards, Italy's version of the Oscars.
''I can't help but agree with the idea - I've always made the promotion of Italian cinema my mission,'' he said.
Rondi added that he was not too concerned that a festival focussing on Italian films might step on the toes of the Davids since the dates of the two (October and April) were far enough apart.
''An event that shows off Italian films and another that collects and awards the best fruit of the season can only receive my support. The more we do for our cinema the more I like it,'' he said.
