The ever-opinionated popster weighs in on a variety of subjects in a two-part "Access Hollywood" interview, including and and are among the stars headlining the first edition of the Rome Film Festival.

The festival, which will run Oct. 13-21, opens with the world premiere of "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diana Arus," starring Kidman. The movie is being shown out of competition.

"This film is a paradigm. It has everything you can think of for an opening film," said Piera Detassis, a member of the festival's board of directors.

A movie about the Soviet war in Afghanistan has been picked as Russia's entry for next year's Oscars, a member of the national selection committee said Tuesday.

said "The Ninth Company," telling the story of an army unit sent into the Central Asian country to fight mujahedeen guerrillas, would compete for the 79th Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

Bondarchuk, 38, is one of the first filmmakers to bring to the screen the Soviet Union's controversial military campaign in Afghanistan of the 1980s. Made with a budget of $9 million, it became an instant box-office hit at home, grossing $7.7 million in the first five days after its release in September 2005.

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