MATT ROSS’ second film, “Captain Fantastic,” won the People’s Choice Award at the 11th Rome Film Fest. Viggo Mortensen stars as a radical father raising his children to peak mental and physical condition in the Pacific Northwest wilderness, when his wife’s abrupt death forces them to return to society.

    Ross and Mortensen were both on hand to present the film in Rome, to the great pleasure of fans who came out in droves to see them speak at events surrounding the film.

    “Captain Fantastic” has been very successful on the festival circuit after its Sundance debut, also taking home the best director prize in Cannes this year in Un Certain Regard and audience awards in Deauville and Karlovy Vary.

    The film was co-presented by Rome Film Fest and Alice Nella Citta, an independent sidebar of the fest targeted toward young audiences.

    “It’s an award for utopia,” said Piera Detassis, president of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma. “Our audiences have always held in high consideration this type of story.”

    “Utopia is widespread now, but utopia is what has guided us in our work, the idea to break away from barriers and stereotypes,” she said.

    Rome was dubbed this year as a UNESCO “City of Film,” and the fest wanted to reflect that, expanding well beyond its headquarters at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, holding screenings across the city from the Spanish Steps to the Rebibbia prison.The Alice nella Citta jury, led by Matt Dillon, presented its Taodue award for best film to Justin Tipping for his sneaker saga “Kicks.” The Golden Camera award went to Selma Vilhunen’s Finnish film “Little Wing.”

    The fest had a wide variety of guests involved in “Close Encounter” conversations with the audience this year, including Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Roberto Benigni, Don DeLillo and Mortensen. One noticeable absence from the carpet was Rooney Mara, who had three films in the fest, but was unable to attend because of scheduling issues. She was last at the fest in 2014 for her film “Trash” which took home the fest’s People’s Choice Award that year.

    The fest screened 72 films from 26 countries, including such films as “Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea.”

    Next year the fest is further planning on expanding its presence in the city, and has already secured the Santa Cecilia Hall, the largest venue at the Auditorium Parco della Musica for next year’s festivities. (SD-Agencies)