The .render() method is for Rows objects, not for an individual field value. The default "represent" function for a list:reference field will produce a string of comma-separated items, like "Item A, Item B, Item C". If you want that back in a Python list, you could do:
{{for element in item.split(', '):}}
Alternatively, you could create a custom "represent" function that generates the list that you want (or it could even generate a set of TD's containing the items).
Anthony