Rome, the Cinema Europa reborn: partnership between Netflix and CSC for a new audiovisual pole

One hundred and twenty years after the first public screening of Filoteo Alberini's 'The Taking of Rome', Rome's Cinema Europa is once again illuminated. Not just a reopening, but a strong signal: the past of Italian cinema meets the future of global audiovisuals. The Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC) and Netflix have announced a partnership that breathes new life into a historic cinema and, together, launches a new cultural hub in the heart of the capital.

The Cinema Europa, marked by years of post-pandemic silence, will soon become an open space for training, research and the enhancement of the national film heritage. The CSC will take care of the management and programming of the cinema, which will also be the Centre's first within the city walls. A meeting place for students, authors and spectators: a concrete step in the project to relaunch the school and the Cineteca Nazionale.

Netflix, a partner in the project with a sponsorship of €4 million for a five-year agreement, will bear part of the costs of renovation and management of the premises (owned by the Inps and until now managed by De Laurentiis with the company Olimpia 80), as well as various cultural and training activities. This is not a fronting sponsorship, they assure us: the platform will participate in the construction of a "laboratory" where different experiences and languages can contaminate each other. No commercial drift, rather a way of bringing together memory and innovation. Indicatively, the reopening should take place in a year: time needed to obtain permits and comply with the requirements of the Code of Contracts (a necessary condition for the Experimental Centre of Cinematography).

The announcement came at a press conference opened by a video message from Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, and attended by CSC president Gabriella Buontempo and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. 'This agreement,' said Minister Giuli, 'represents a concrete example of the success of public-private collaboration. The ministry looks favourably on initiatives such as this one that are able to unite education, industry and creativity. Netflix, for its part, added Giuli, 'has shown sensitivity and attention to Italy.

Buontempo emphasised that in this operation there is the creation of 'a cultural pole both for training and for the enhancement of the film heritage. An artistic synergy with Netflix, to which we are grateful'. The co-CEO of the streaming bigwig, for his part, emphasised how this initiative represents 'our constant commitment to the local audiovisual industry and our desire to ensure that the magic of Italian storytelling through images continues to fascinate audiences for generations to come'.