Robert De Niro to receive Rome’s highest honor during Alice in the City festival

Robert De Niro will be honored in Rome while promoting Nobu Hotel and participating in Alice in the City events.

Robert De Niro will be awarded the Lupa Capitolina, the highest honor bestowed by the city of Rome, during his visit to Italy this November. The award presentation is organized in collaboration with Alice in the City, an independent sidebar of the Rome Film Festival focused on youth and family-oriented cinema.

De Niro is scheduled to be in Rome on November 6 and 7, where he will receive the accolade from Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri. In addition to the ceremony, the acclaimed actor will also attend the grand opening of the Nobu Hotel Roma, located on the iconic Via Veneto. The hotel is a joint venture between De Niro, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, and producer Meir Teper. All three partners are expected to be present for the traditional Kagami-Biraki ceremony, in which a sake barrel is broken open as a symbol of harmony and good fortune. The event will take place outside the hotel and will form part of Alice in the City’s new initiative, Fuori Sala (“Outside the Cinema”), a program of cultural events including book readings and cinema presentations throughout October and November.

Alice in the City also announced its opening film for this year’s edition: Good Boy, a breakout horror title by U.S. director Ben Leonberg. The film, which premiered at SXSW, centers on a family dog named Indy who must protect his ailing owner from a supernatural threat.

Other festival highlights include the European premiere of Anemone, a family drama by Ronan Day-Lewis, co-written with his father, Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis — marking the latter’s return to the public eye after an eight-year retirement. Also featured is The President’s Cake, the debut film by Iraqi director Hasan Hadi, which tells the story of children growing up under Saddam Hussein.