The heart of the RomeFilmFest will be the Auditorium, conceived by the master architect Renzo Piano. But this won’t be the only venue. The real star will be the whole city of Rome. The Italian capital boasts an incomparable variety of spots immortalized by some of the most beautiful films of all times, and it is in these locations that the Festa will take place.

 

Like the Piazza del Popolo, the meeting point for the cinema community since the years of the neo-realism in the 40’s. A lively gathering of moviemakers who used to have discussions on cinema, art and life over the tables of the Caffè Rosati. Among them, the scriptwriter Ennio Flaiano who stated: “Rome is a big capital as much as a regional city”. Loads of unforgettable scenes were shot in the square, such as the rendez-vous between Vittorio Gassman and Nino Manfredi in the movie We All Loved Each Other So Much (C’eravamo tanto amati) directed by Ettore Scola or the car ride with Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant on a deserted mid-August day, in the film The Easy Life (Il sorpasso) by Dino Risi.

 

Like Via Veneto, the symbol of an age: the glamorous, trendy and fashionable Dolce Vita years. A street that has become part of cinema history, due to its constant presence in movies like The Unfaithfuls (Le infedeli) by Mario Monicelli or Nights of Cabiria (Le notti di Cabiria) by Federico Fellini, even if the latter preferred to build a copy of the whole street at the Cinecittà studios when shooting The sweet years (La dolce vita).

 

Like Villa Borghese, the delightful park halfway between Via Veneto and Piazza del Popolo, background to movies like the It Happened in the Park (Villa Borghese), Roman Tales (Racconti romani) with Vittorio de Sica and Totò or An American in Rome (Un americano a Roma), starring the revered Roman-born actor Alberto Sordi. The park hosts as well the Casa del Cinema, placed in a square named after the Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni.

 

Like the Trevi Fountain, internationally regarded as a cinema icon thanks to Anita Ekberg and Mastroianni’s early morning swim in The Sweet Life (La dolce vita). It was also the set for Three coins in the fountain (Tre soldi nella Fontana) by Jean Negulesco.

 

Like Ostia, the closest seaside resort to Rome, which families from the city flocked to every Sunday in the tough aftermath of the Second World War. Lots of films have been shot here, such as Sunday in August (Domenica d’Agosto) by Luciano Emmer, Ecce Bombo by Nanni Moretti, Ostia and In the Beach House (Casotto) by Sergio Citti and Compagni di scuola by Carlo Verdone.

 

Like Cinecittà, one of the most renowned cinema studios in Europe. Classics such as Quo Vadis, Ben Hur or Cleopatra were shot here, but also contemporary movies such as The Godfather Pt. III (Il Padrino parte III), The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa), starring Sean Connery, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen  (Il Barone di Munchausen).

 

We want to revisit these magical locations, which are part of the history of cinema and part of the RomeFilmFest as well. We’ve asked several actors and directors to reminisce with us about the Roman sets of past and present. Stay online.