While the rest of the world argues about the death of cinema, Rome is screening “Twin Peaks” outdoors every Friday night, finally putting “Uncut Gems” on a big screen, and somehow getting Thom Yorke to introduce “Children of Men” — and admission is free.
Now in its 12th edition, Fondazione Piccolo America’s Il Cinema in Piazza runs May 28 through July 12 across three open-air venues, with 95 screenings, 32 special encounters, and a guest list that makes you do the math on a last-minute flight.
Every Friday night at the Cervelletta, one year after David Lynch‘s passing, the full first season of “Twin Peaks” screens under the stars — followed by “Fire Walk with Me” and “Missing Pieces,” Lynch’s legendary collection of deleted scenes and alternate takes.
Then there’s “Uncut Gems” — finally, for Italy, on a proper screen. The Safdie Brothers will receive their first Roman retrospective this year, and the program includes the Adam Sandler film that was released in Italy exclusively on streaming, meaning a generation of Italian cinephiles are about to see one of the most viscerally stressful moviegoing experiences of the past decade the way it was supposed to be seen. The retrospective continues at Cinema Troisi with Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.”
The guest list, meanwhile, is the kind of thing that makes you do the math on a last-minute flight to Rome. Jane Campion, Jacques Audiard, Oliver Stone, Pablo Larraín, Isabella Rossellini presenting “Casablanca” in conversation with her daughter Elettra, Josh O’Connor paying tribute to Pasolini with a screening of “Accattone,” Ian McKellen introducing Jacques Tati, Léa Seydoux with a surprise Carte Blanche, and Thom Yorke — Thom Yorke — presenting “Children of Men” in conversation with Antonio Monda and Francesco Zippel.
Nicolas Winding Refn shows up twice in one day: a preview of his new film “Her Private Hell” at Cinema Troisi, then a screening of Tony Scott’s “The Hunger” at the Cervelletta the same evening, as a tribute to David Bowie 10 years after his passing.
Opening night, May 28, belongs to Marco Bellocchio, presenting the first three episodes of his new series “Portobello” — about the wrongful arrest and eventual acquittal of Italian TV personality Enzo Tortora — in conversation with true crime podcaster Stefano Nazzi and Italian music iconoclast M¥SS KETA, followed by a reading from series star Fabrizio Gifuni. It’s a characteristically Italian opening: layered, a little theatrical, completely serious about its subject.
The retrospective slate is just as stacked: Elio Petri on Wednesday nights, Alice Rohrwacher and Kenneth Anger at the Cervelletta, Steven Spielberg and Takashi Miike on Sundays at Monte Ciocci, Edgar Wright on Wednesdays, Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli on Saturdays, Gabriele Muccino every Sunday at San Cosimato.
This year’s guest of honor is Bruce Goldstein, Founding Repertory Artistic Director of New York’s Film Forum, who curated a five-film selection drawing a line between the street life of New York and the ancient architecture of Rome — from Harold Lloyd’s “Speedy” to Fellini’s “Lo Sceicco Bianco” to “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.”
Fondazione Piccolo America’s outdoor film series runs May 28 through July 12 across three open-air venues — Piazza San Cosimato in Trastevere, Parco della Cervelletta in Tor Sapienza, and Parco di Monte Ciocci in Valle Aurelia — with all screenings free to attend. The full program is at ilcinemainpiazza.it.
