Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion and Wes Anderson are among the signees of an appeal to stave off the impending threat that a substantial portion of Rome’s movie theaters could be converted into shopping centers and supermarkets under proposed regional legislation.
Alarm over the future of the Eternal City’s cinemas was prompted last month after asset management companies Colliers Global Investors and Wrm Capital won a Rome real estate bankruptcy auction and acquired nine movie theaters for a reported €50 million ($52 million).
Some of these venues, such as the city’s central Cinema Adriano multiplex, are fully operational, while others have long been shuttered. The person behind the fund is believed to be Italian-British financier Raffaele Mincione.
Meanwhile, a new regional piece of legislation is being drafted — and is up for approval this week — that would remove norms that currently prevent Rome movie theaters from being converted into any other type of business besides being a cultural space.
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Over the weekend, Scorsese – responding to a cry for help from Rome’s Cinema America collective that runs the city’s largest open-air film festival and the popular Cinema Troisi arthouse venue – issued an open letter inspired by architect Renzo Piano and appealed to the country’s top leaders.
“As Renzo Piano eloquently reflects on the current situation in Rome, it is clear that the attempt to repurpose spaces intended for the possible cultural renaissance of the Eternal City into hotels, shopping centers and supermarkets is utterly unacceptable,” Scorsese wrote. “Such a transformation would represent an irrevocable loss: a profound sacrilege not only to the city’s rich history but also to the cultural legacy for the future generations.”
Scorsese’s plea continues, “We call upon our colleagues across the globe, festival directors and all the cultural operators to sign this letter to save the last chance for redemption of one of the most important cultural and artistic cities worldwide. This letter is also personally addressed to President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to prevent any conversion of the cultural spaces in Rome. It’s our duty to transform these abandoned ‘cathedrals in the desert’ into true temples of culture, places capable of nourishing the souls of both present and future generations.”
Valerio Carocci, president of Rome’s Cinema America collective, told Variety that the proposed legislation also “means inviting the owners of active movie theaters to shutter them so they can [also] reconvert” and increase their real estate value. “It’s therefore a death sentence for Rome’s future generations,” Carocci added.
Members of the international film community that have endorsed the appeal launched by Renzo Piano, Scorsese and Carocci also include: Spike Lee, David Cronenberg, Ari Aster, Julie Taymor, Mubi founder Efe Cakarel, Yorgos Lanthimos, J.J. Abrams, Josh Safdie, Todd Haynes, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Mark Cousins, Alfonso Cuarón, Willem Dafoe, Robert Eggers, Joanna Hogg, Dawn Hudson, Isabella Rossellini, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Schrader, Léa Seydoux, John Turturro, Thomas Vinterberg, Jeremy Thomas, Paweł Pawlikowski and Debra Winger.