THE INTERNATIONAL ROME FILM FESTIVAL will run October 27 – November 4 2011

  
Luc Besson’s The Lady will open the sixth edition of the International Rome Film Festival, running this year from October 27 to November 4 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. The film, presented out of competition, recounts the political and personal odyssey of Aung San Suu Kyi (played by Michelle Yeoh), the Burmese pacifist and human rights activist who has militated against the dictatorship in her country for decades.
Forced to live virtually entirely under house arrest from 1989 to 2007, she was torn from her husband and children, who resided in England. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

"I am delighted and honored that The Lady has been selected to open the Rome International Film Festival, and that our European festival premiere will take place in a country and city that are dear to me,” said Besson. “I was deeply inspired and touched by Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal story and her ongoing fight for democracy, and hope that through this film her cause and voice will be better known and shared with audiences around the world".
Besson will be in Rome to present the premiere with stars David Thewlis and Yeoh, the latter whom was banned from Burma for her role in the film.