By Eric J. Lyman
Hollywood Reporter
Dec 20, 2007

ROME -- The Dalai Lama is set to attend the third RomaCinemaFest in
2008, adding a new kind of star power to a young festival that has
already attracted scores of top-shelf Hollywood names over its first two
editions.

According to Goffredo Bettini, president of the Rome Cinema Foundation,
the central figure of Tibetan Buddhism has accepted the invitation to
attend.

It is understood that the Dalai Lama will attend the festival to take
part in a special sidebar dedicated to the people of Tibet, including
documentaries and films about the region. The Dalai Lama will join a
list of internationally recognized celebrities to have been associated
with the Rome festival that already includes Sophia Loren, Sean Connery,
Harrison Ford, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Francis Ford Coppola, and
Martin Scorsese.

The third edition of the Rome festival is set for October