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Lights, Camera, Roma: A Festival with a Roman Attitude

October 16, 2025

Lights, Camera, Roma: A Festival with a Roman Attitude

All you need to know about the Festa del Cinema di Roma

Photo credit: Fondazione Cinema per Roma romacinemafest.it

When October rolls around in the Eternal City, something magical happens: Rome trades in its typical hustle and bustle for something a bit more glamorous, a little more cinematic. The Festa del Cinema di Roma (Rome Film Festival) transforms the Auditorium Parco della Musica and scattered corners of the city into a dreamy nexus of red carpets, world premieres, deep conversations, and pure movie love.

It’s a festival that doesn’t just screen films, but invites Rome (and the world) to lean in, to walk the carpet, and to feel that buzz. Keen to come along?

In the Beginning: From Bold Idea to Festival Reality

The seeds of this festival were planted in 2006, when the first edition – then called Cinema. Festa internazionale di Roma – took place under the stewardship of civic bodies including the Comune di Roma, Regione Lazio, and the Camera di Commercio.

From the get-go, it was meant to be different: not a Venice or Cannes rip-off, but something fresh, local, ambitious and cosmopolitan at once. A festival that celebrated cinema with the same passion the city brings to food, art, and conversation.

Just a year later, in 2007, the Fondazione Cinema per Roma was established, giving this young festival a solid institutional backbone and long-term direction. And in 2015, a subtle but meaningful transformation: it officially became the Festa del Cinema di Roma. Not just a festival about film, but a true festa — joyous, inclusive, and undeniably Italian.

Evolution: The Layers of a Living Festival

Photo credit: Fondazione Cinema per Roma romacinemafest.it

Like any great film, the Festa has evolved – deepening, widening, experimenting – without ever losing its heart.

At its core now stands Progressive Cinema – Visioni per il mondo di domani, the international competition that champions bold auteurs and forward-looking visions. This isn’t about formulaic red-carpet prestige; it’s where art-house meets zeitgeist, where cinema questions the world we live in and imagines the one to come.

Then there’s Freestyle, the festival’s mischievous younger sibling – a space for cinematic rule-breakers. Here, documentaries brush shoulders with long-form series, video art, and works that simply don’t fit a box.

The Grand Public section, by contrast, is pure joy – a selection designed to welcome the crowds with open arms. These are the crowd-pleasers, the emotional journeys, the films that remind audiences that great cinema can also mean great fun.

Complementing these are the Proiezioni Speciali, Best Of, and Storia del Cinema retrospectives – the festival’s nod to its roots. Restored classics, auteur tributes, and cinematic milestones remind viewers that the future of film always begins with a look back.

And we can’t forget Alice nella Città, the festival’s radiant offshoot. Originally part of the main program, it now runs alongside it, dedicated to emerging talent and young audiences, as proof that the Festa isn’t only celebrating cinema’s past and present, but nurturing its future, too.

The Festa del Cinema di Roma is a cinematic ecosystem where all genres, generations, and sensibilities coexist – much like Rome itself.

A Festival with a Roman Soul

Photo credit: Fondazione Cinema per Roma romacinemafest.it

What truly sets the Festa del Cinema apart is how it breathes the city. While its physical heart beats within Renzo Piano’s sweeping Auditorium Parco della Musica, its soul spills out into every cobblestoned corner. Neighbourhood cinemas, cultural hubs, and open-air venues all join in, as a conscious effort to make cinema part of the city’s daily pulse.

It’s also a festival that’s always been refreshingly public. Many events are accessible to everyone; screenings are often open or affordably priced. The red carpet, too, isn’t just for A-listers – though cinematic royalty like Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton and Cate Blanchett all have graced it. Rather, it’s a runway for Roman families, film students, tourists, and dreamers alike. Think of it as a shared celebration of glam, imagination, and art.

Today and Beyond

Now approaching its 20th edition (which runs from October 15-26), the Festa del Cinema di Roma continues to grow with confidence. Its upcoming program already promises a vibrant blend of innovation and nostalgia, opening with Riccardo Milani’s Life Goes This Way and paying tribute to cinema’s greats such as photographer Franco Pinna, special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi and actor Peter Sellers.

But perhaps the most enduring thing about the Festa is how it manages to capture what cinema and Rome are both about: connection, wonder, and the ineffable thrill of a story well told.

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