News from Italy
Let’s go to the cinema in the square:
Film festival under the stars in Rome
My heart is drunk under the stars… It’s nice to watch movies under the stars… Oh how nice to watch movies in the squares… Good news! The Cinema in Piazza di Roma is starting.
Cinema and Rome enthusiasts can’t wait to watch movies on the big screen under the stars again this summer with the return of Il Cinema in Piazza.
Every evening at 21.15, the center of Rome and the suburbs will experience a very rich programming, special meetings with international guests from different parts of the world, foreign language films subtitled in Italian and Italian films with English subtitles, all at the entrance free and free with the exception of special events at the Cinema Troisi.
12th edition of the free festival takes place from 1 June to 13July in different locations. In addition to its base at Piazza S. Cosimato in Trastevere, the festival will return to Parco della Cervelletta in Rome’s eastern Tor Sapienza suburbs and Monte Ciocci park at Valle Aurelia. Screenings are held at 21.15, every night except Monday and Tuesday, and booking is not required.
The 2025 edition of the festival will feature a total of 94 films on the big screen in four locations from June 1 to July 13, accompanied by numerous high-profile guests.
The festival returns to Piazza San Cosimato in Trastevere alongside Parco della Cervelletta and Monte Ciocci park in the suburbs, offering a variety of settings for your film experience. Seven events will also be held at Cinema Troisi, ensuring a convenient location for all attendees.
One of the unique features of the festival is the screening of films in their original language with Italian subtitles, providing an authentic viewing experience. Italian movies are also shown with English subtitles, ensuring everyone can enjoy the films.
The festival kicks off on 1 June in Piazza San Cosimato with Roman actress and director Paola Cortellesi, who, in conversation with film critic Antonio Monda, will present a restored 4K version of a 20th-century Italian classic: Una giornata particolare by Ettore Scola.
The entire programme, designed to cater to all film enthusiasts, is readily available on Il Cinema on Piazza’s website, ensuring you are well-informed and prepared for the festival.
On 5 June, American director Walter Hill will present the cult movie The Warriors at Cervellata. On 7 June, the director and actor Michele Riondino will present Palazzina Laf at Monte Ciocci, alongside the film’s protagonist, Vanessa Scalera, and groups representing workers in the entertainment industry.
Among the many special events to look forward to, the D’Innocenzo Brothers will give a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their series Dostoevskij on 19 June at Cervelletta, while Daniele Luchetti will celebrate the 30th anniversary of La scuola in San Cosimato, and on 21 June Margherita Vicario will present her directorial debut Gloria! in Monte Ciocci.
Two decades after the release of Capote, director Bennett Miller will be a guest at Cervelletta on June 26 to discuss the making of the film with Antonio Monda, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.
In a nod to the Jubilee Year, the festival will show Chariots of Fire by Hugh Hudson on 14 June in San Cosimato, in collaboration with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Il Cinema in Piazza at Parco della Cervelletta
There is also a diverse programme of retrospectives, dedicated to neorealist master Roberto Rossellini and horror legend John Carpenter, as well as a special screening of The Goonies to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the cult film.
Younger viewers are catered for with films by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton alongside a series of films based on Roald Dahl stories and modern classics such as Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit – The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Screenings are held at 21.15 every night except Monday and Tuesday.
The full 2025 programme is available on
Edizione 2024