Moretti bows out amid Turin fest tussle

Moretti's surprise withdrawal amid a mounting storm has wreaked major havoc in Turin's film community, prompting, in turn, the immediate resignations of his main backers, Turin Film Museum director Alberto Barbera and Turin Film Commission chief Stefano Della Casa; both are onetime Turin fest toppers themselves.

"It is with great pain that I give up the job and leave you to your method problems, procedural disputes and personal grudges," the prolific auteur -- whose anti-Berlusconi pic "The Caiman" was among Italy's top local 2006 grossers -- said in a statement.

The fierce spat in the northern city pits Barbera and Della Casa against veteran film academic Gianni Rondolino, founder and prexy of the 24-year-old Turin festival, which has been feeling the heat from the new, higher-profile RomeFilmFest.

As director of Turin's renowned film museum, Barbera held a key post on the Turin fest board. After Rondolino balked at plans for a radical revamp, Barbera and the local politicos who greenlight the fest's E2.2 million ($2.9 million) budget decided to pull the coin last week.

Barbera, Della Casa and the pols then appointed Moretti to head what would, in effect, would have become a new Turin event. That created a situation reminiscent of last year's war of the festivals in Montreal, as Rondolino vowed to forge ahead with his Turin fest with or without government coin.

Moretti's resignation was front-page news in Italian newspapers, which carried an appeal from Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino urging him to reconsider.

Referring to the rivalry that has been brewing between Venice, Rome and Turin following the Rome fest's debut last year, Corriere Della Sera said Moretti had become "the first cadaver of the war of the festivals."