14/03/2011

"Cinecittà’s studios will not close". The news, which comes from Cinecittà Studios, only partially placates the unrest set off among film industry professionals after last week’s announcement of further cuts to the FUS (Entertainment Industry Fund) of €27m (already reduced to €258m – see news). "On the contrary, after having doubled its activities and hosted 30 important international productions, Cinecittà Studios [a public company with private capital] has underway further investments to increase its competitiveness ".

But preoccupations surrounding the fate of Cinecittà Luce remain, after the alarm sounded March 8 by its managing director, Luciano Sovena, who in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera criticized the drastic cuts to its finances (from €14m to €7-8 for 2011) and spoke of the risk of Cinecittà Luce having to close its shutters and the dispersion of the company’s vast patrimony, "the most prestigious audiovisual brand in Italy and among the oldest in the world".

Numerous directors and producers have asked that the survival of the important institution not be placed at risk, among them Roberto Benigni ("An immense archive. How can you close down History?"); producer Angelo Barbagallo ("It is an indispensible for the distribution of first and second films and in the promotion of Italian films abroad”); and screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami ("It is the place where Italian film history was made and where Fellini had a home").

Even American actor-director John Turturro expressed his support for the company. "The energy, enthusiasm and possibility to access the archives of Cinecittà Luce were fundamental to the making of my film Passione: A Musical Adventure [+see also:
film review
film profile]," he said.

Italian Culture Minister Sandro Bondi has nevertheless categorically excluded any possibility of closure, emphasizing that “a measure would be necessary that allows Cinecittà Luce, like all other organizations supported by the FUS, to carry outs its institutional mission in the full interest of culture and our country’s economy."

"This week we should tackle the matter of Cinecittà, which in the past two years has turned around its books and improved its company mission,” said Culture Under-Secretary Francesco Maria Giro.

In the meantime, entertainment industry unions (SLC - CGIL, Fistel - CISL, Uilcom - UIL) have announced a general strike to be held in the coming days to protest the FUS cuts.

(Translated from Italian)