Blog: Film festivals

“A path is always between two points, but the in-between has taken on all the consistency
and enjoys both an autonomy and a direction of its own” G. Deleuze, F. Guattari, 1987

Based at the legendary DETOUR Arthouse Cinema, in the heart of Rome since 1997, ON THE ROAD FILM FESTIVAL is devoted to contemporary independent cinema - fiction, documentary and experimental - presenting travelogues, urban and waste-land wanderings, real or imaginary topographies, unexpected detours, psycho-geographical drifts, migration and nomadism.

We look for films that develop, through linguistic and narrative skills, a critical and inventive approach to the subject guidelines of the Festival: a traveling mood with digressions from fixed paths, where the route is what matters, not the destination.

The Festival hosts screenings, master classes, meetings, art exhibitions, live performances and music, both at DETOUR Cinema and at a variety of cinema venues, film clubs, schools, public libraries and other unusual locations in Rome and and in its surrounding area.

OTRFF competition consists of two sections: THE ROAD (Features and Mid-length films =>30') and SHORT>CUTS (short films <30')

Features and Short Films in competition will be screened in late 2021 or in early 2022 at Detour Cinema in Rome, depending on the progress of the covid pandemic. 

In respect of impediments resulting from the persistence of the pandemic emergency, the main festival events, the award ceremony and the screenings of the winning films will take place live online in "virtual cinema" mode.