After tumultuous weeks of negotiations and infighting, Marco Mueller has finally been appointed artistic director of the International Rome Film Festival, following a vote Friday, March 16 of the festival’s stakeholders, a move designed to raise Rome’s profile while no doubt rekindling the festival’s rivalry with the storied Venice Film Festival.

Though long expected, the official announcement of Mueller’s appointment finally closed the door on one of the most problematic periods in the seven-year history of a festival that has had more than its share of difficulties.

In this case, the succession battle featured a weeks-long standoff between Mueller who had been artistic director with the Venice Film Festival for the previous eight years and newly-installed festival president Paolo Ferrari on one side, and incumbent artistic director Piera Detassis and then-president Gian Luigi Rondi on the other. The way was cleared only after Rondi stepped down Feb. 24, for what he said was for “the good of the festival,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.