A bevy of Oscar nominees among the films screened at the fourth edition of the International Rome Film Festival (15-23 October 2009). All in all, the festival racked up 15 nominees for the Academy Awards, and three of them had their international premieres in Rome: Up in the Air, The Last Station, and A Serious Man.

Up in the Air by Jason Reitman, which screened in competition in the Official Selection, snagged an impressive six nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (George Clooney), Best Director (Jason Reitman), Best Supporting Actress (Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner).

The Last Station by Michael Hoffman, also in the competition lineup in Rome’s Official Selection, received two nominations: Best Actress (Helen Mirren) and Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer).

The fourth edition of the Rome Film Festival can also boast a number of Oscar nominees among the films that screened out of competition in its Official Selection: A Serious Man, by Joel and Ethan Coen, nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen), and Julie & Julia by Nora Ephron, whose star Meryl Streep got the nod for Best Actress.

And one of the festival’s special events was dedicated to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus by Terry Gilliam, which walked away with two nominations: Best Art Direction (Dave Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith), and Best Costume Design (Monique Prudhomme).

The Cove by Louis Psihoyos, which screened in the Rome Film Festival’s Focus Section, was nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

Finally, contenders for the Oscar nomination included The Milk of Sorrow by Claudia Llosa, which landed a nomination for Best Foreign Film. The original project for this film, winner of the Golden Bear at the 59th Berlin Film Festival, was screened in Rome in 2007 at New Cinema Network, the co-production market that the International Rome Film Festival devotes to supporting independent film.

“I am truly delighted by the success of the films that premiered at the 4th International Rome Film Festival in our Official Selection,” says Piera Detassis, the festival’s Artistic Director. The Oscar nominations and the warm critical reception for these films are a sign that the festival is growing every year and raising its profile on the international level.”