'I Play Rocky' Will Open the Cairo International Film Festival
Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky will open the 47th Cairo International Film Festival, according to Deadline. The festival runs from 11 to 20 November.
The film is about the making of Rocky, the 1976 film that made Sylvester Stallone a household name. Anthony Ippolito plays a young Stallone. The story follows the production itself rather than the boxing drama on screen.
The Cairo festival is also marking a milestone. This edition comes 50 years after the festival was created in 1976, and an opening slot gives the anniversary a film to build around. Opening films are chosen by the festival's programmers, not by the filmmakers or distributors alone.
The film has been building a run on the festival circuit this autumn. It world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, where it finished as first runner-up for the People's Choice Award. Toronto's People's Choice is voted on by audiences, so a runner-up finish means it came close to the top of the crowd's list.
Audience awards have followed elsewhere. The film won the Audience Award in the Galas & Special Presentations section at the Vancouver International Film Festival. It also took the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film at the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival in Ontario.
It was also picked for a surprise screening at the BFI London Film Festival, a late addition that festival-goers did not see listed in advance. Surprise screenings are often used to test a film with an audience before a wider release is set.
For a general audience, the route is worth spelling out. A film first premieres at a festival, then picks up audiences and buyers as it travels. Each new festival can add a prize, a screening or a bigger stage. Cairo's opening night is the latest stop on that path.
Farrelly, who was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, directs the film. Its next stop is Cairo, where the 50th anniversary year gets its opening film on 11 November.
