Garrone, Rohrwacher in Cannes running (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, May 8 - Italy has a strong presence at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, opening today, with movies by Matteo Garrone and Alice Rohrwacher in the main competition.
    Garrone is in the running for the Palme d'Or with an 'urban western' - Dogman.
    The 49-year-old, best known for his hit 2008 movie Gomorrah about the Neapolitan movie based on the book of the same name by Roberto Saviano, also ran in the main Cannes section in 2015 with Tale of Tales.
    Rohrwacher is aiming for the prestigious award with Lazzaro Felice, the story about a man on the margins of society who manages to travel through time.
    It features Spanish actor Sergi Lpez and Rohrwacher's sister Alba Rohrwacher.
    The director's second feature film, The Wonders, won the Grand Prix at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
    Valeria Golino's Euphoria, starring her partner Riccardo Scamarcio and Valerio Mastandrea, is taking part in the Un Certain Regard section.
    It is about the tough relationship between two brothers with very different characters.
    Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's new two-part movie Loro - starring Toni Servillo as Silvio Berlusconi in a biopic - will screened in some form.
    Other big names in the Cannes competition line-up include Spike Lee with Blackkklansmanm, Jean-Luc Godard (Le Livre D'Image) and Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Shoplifters).
    Oscar-winning Polish-British director Pawel Pawlikowski will feature with Cold War and the previously announced 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' will be screened too.
    This year's theme is protesting women from harassment and a freephone number and a special team have been set up.
    The fest, which runs till May 19, will be opened by Asghar Farhadi's 'Todos lo Saben' with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.