in Rome, the Cinecittà film studios in full renaissance

A cart drives under the umbrella pines to the sound of birds chirping. She slaloms between film studios. On the outskirts of Rome, Italy, the Cinecittà is experiencing a renaissance. In decline since the 1980s, these film studios now produce films and series.

Within its 40 hectares of surface area, the Cinecittà now has twenty studios, including an ancient city formerly recreated for the series Rome. Simona Balducci, head of sets and scenography at Cinecittà, is seated in her office in front of a huge drawing for an upcoming film. “It’s the interior of a steamship.”she confides.

Among the blockbusters of 2023, Roland Emmerich’s series on gladiators, with Anthony Hopkins, is the symbol of the infernal cadences which have resumed here. “They filmed for ten months” and the director “go very quickly”remembers Simona Balducci. “We had barely built and delivered a set when we needed another one the next day.”

A studio occupancy rate close to 80%

Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie and Adam Driver… Hollywood’s elite return to Cinecittà, in front of or behind the camera. Covid, a period of great rethinking for cinema, was a tipping point. “After the pandemic, when filming resumed, production companies understood that it was easier to film in one location”explains the person responsible for sets and scenography. “They rediscovered the benefits of studios.”

Cinecittà is seeing double-digit growth in 2023 and the studio occupancy rate is almost 80%. “Cinecittà is experiencing a new golden age because in our country there is favorable taxation”explains general administrator Nicola Maccanico.

“There is a tax credit system which allows us to be competitive in the main European and global markets and then, above all, the audiovisual market has exploded.”

Nicola Maccanico, general administrator

at franceinfo

Nicola Maccanico alludes to the proliferation of platforms which always need new content. La Cinecittà has also entered into an agreement with the audiovisual group Freemantle for the occupation of six sets. It also won European money to build five new studios and renovate four.

Craftsmanship and cutting-edge technologies

The outdated image of Cinecittà is therefore fading, as evidenced by Teatro 18, at the forefront of virtual reality filming. But what attracts production teams here is the blend of technology with craftsmanship. The teams use, for example, a machine with digital control to cut polystyrene. “If we have to make high cornices that no one is going to touch, polystyrene does the trick. Then it’s up to the painter to give it the appearance of wood or marble, it costs less”, explains Paolo Perugini who manages the studio carpentry. According to him, “Cinecittà artisans have the art of making false things appear true”.

What makes the site very close to the Italian capital attractive are people like him, with very rare expertise. Paolo Perugini has been there for over 30 years. “Since 1992, I don’t know how many films I have participated in”but “I have the telephone number of the greatest architects and show designers”underlines the craftsman. “There are few people who know how to do my job.” The transmission of this know-how also gives rise to real concern. It is difficult to recruit young artisans. Since the site was bought by the State in 2017, recruitment rules have been stricter and we can no longer co-opt from father to son.

“Cinecittà, that’s us”

The film Finally the Alba (Finally dawn in French) is released in theaters in Italy on Wednesday February 14. It was filmed largely in Roman studios and pays homage to their history. Italian, pure Roman, its director Saverio Costanzo states: “Cinecittà is us.” If he comes to film here, it is also for artistic reasons: “Rome has a special sun and at Cinecittà it is reflected in a unique way.”

For Saverio Costanzo, “the extras are fundamental”. “When I say “Cinecittà is us”it’s because we made Italian cinema with our faces, our bodies and the composition of all these faces is like a mosaic which gives the image of a country”, explains the director. “Finalmente l’alba” was one of four Italian films shot at Cinecittà in competition at the last Venice Film Festival.