Hollywood titans appeal to Meloni to
save Rome’s cinemas
Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and others have appealed to the Italian prime minister to
block a plan that would allow the conversion of old cinemas
Tom Kington, Rome
Monday February 24 2025, 9.15pm GMT, The Times
Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and a host of other Oscar winners have appealed
to Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, to block a plan that would allow the
conversion of dozens of shuttered cinemas in Rome into shopping centres and
hotels.
The Hollywood stars have come out in protest against a law change planned by a
regional authority to allow developers in Rome to convert up to 50 closed cinemas,
some dating back to the 1930s.
Developers and regional politicians want to overturn a rule that forces owners to
keep 70 per cent of the buildings’ internal space for cultural purposes, whether
cinemas, community centres or work spaces for artisans. Deprived of the chance to
switch to more profitable businesses as cinema attendance falls, owners have
preferred to leave them to decay.
“The attempt to repurpose spaces intended for the possible cultural renaissance of
the eternal city into hotels, shopping centres and supermarkets is utterly
unacceptable,” reads an open letter co-signed by film luminaries including Francis
Ford Coppola, Jane Campion, JJ Abrams, Wes Anderson, Spike Lee and Ken Loach.
Martin Scorsese and Jane Campion are among those to join the campaign
MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES
EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES
“Such a transformation would represent an irrevocable loss — a profound sacrilege
not only to the city’s rich history, but also to the culture legacy for future
generations,” the letter,
to Meloni and Sergio Mattarella, the Italian president, adds.
Once home to 160 cinemas, Rome has about 44 left open, while architectural jewels
like the post-war, 2,500-seat Maestoso cinema are padlocked.
•
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The campaign has been joined by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, who designed
the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Shard in London. He lauded France’s
investment of millions of euros to create venues for cultural activities around the
country. Old cinemas, Piano claimed, are “the last lungs of oxygen for our cities,
which are increasingly saturated with cars, shopping malls, hotels, and vacation
homes”.
Many of Rome’s cinemas are no longer in use
Rome’s shuttered cinemas do not have necessarily to reopen as cinemas, but their
architectural integrity and community role should be guaranteed, said Catello
Masullo, an official with Italia Nostra, an Italian heritage group. “You cannot force
people to go the cinema, but we should be choosing the French way where cinemas
are turned into dance schools or similar,” he said.
World Europe
Rome’s Cinema Troisi, which was reopened by a group of young activists who
devoted part of its space to a successful, 24-hour study area for students — as well as
showing films — is held up by activists as proof that the Italian capital can revive old
cinemas.
Valerio Giuseppe Carocci, founder of the community cinema, was behind the drive
to recruit Hollywood’s finest to the cause. He said yesterday that he had spent the
previous 48 hours making calls to the US to get more signatures.
The Cinema Troisi sold 110,000 film tickets last year, while 250 students a day use its
study space and the venue makes a profit, Carocci said. “The new law will destroy
the chances of cultural redemption for Rome. I don’t know if we can block it, but we
are fighting the right battle,” he added