Cine-città - The new cinema festival at MACRO

A cinema inside the museum

Cine-città is the festival that inaugurated the new screening room at MACRO — Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, in its historic headquarters at Via Nizza 138, in the Salario-Nomentano district of the City of Rome, in the province of Rome and the Lazio region. Presented by director Cristiana Perrella and the Councillor for Culture Massimiliano Smeriglio as part of a hybrid « third space » — a bookstore, study area, and cinema within the museum — the room opened to the public on December 11, 2025, with a packed schedule of screenings and meetings.

The project: Rome seen through cinema

The festival was built around a simple yet ambitious idea: to tell the story of the city through the films it has inspired. The first Cine-città program was curated by Sergio Sozzo, editorial director of « Sentieri selvaggi », and Sara Pirone, with organization in collaboration with the CSC — Cineteca Nazionale, which provided copies and restorations from its archives.

The calendar followed a recognizable weekly rhythm:

• Fridays (and Saturdays) at 7:00 PM — emerging directors from the Roman scene presented their most recent works in person, offering a direct look at the new generation of authors redefining cinema in the capital.
• Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM — a « vision of Rome » through films selected and introduced by Italian and international authors active in the city, often drawn from the classic repertoire.

What was shown in the screening room

Over the course of just over four months, the festival featured over sixty screenings, alternating between contemporary titles and great classics of Roman cinema. Names that graced the Via Nizza screen included: Pier Paolo Pasolini with Accattone (1961), Federico Fellini with Il bidone (1955), Roberto Rossellini with Paisà (1946), as well as Luchino Visconti, Ettore Scola with A Special Day, and Riccardo Milani with Il posto dell'anima. On the contemporary side, authors such as Liryc Dela Cruz, Ciro De Caro, and Sara Petraglia were hosted, alongside recent titles like They Call Me Jeeg by Gabriele Mainetti, Gioia mia by Margherita Spampinato, and Tienimi presente by Alberto Palmiero.

A museum-style formula, not a multiplex

Cine-città was not just a repertory program: every screening was designed as an encounter, with an introduction or debate in the room. The public could combine a visit to the museum's exhibitions with the evening film and take advantage of MACRO's services — cloakroom, bookshop, and the rooftop bar-restaurant. It is a model that remains quite rare in Italy: a contemporary art museum opening a proper cinema with a dedicated box office and weekly programming.

An experience that concluded in May 2026

After about five months of activity, and despite a high-quality selection ranging from Fellini and Visconti to Mimmo Calopresti and Simone Manetti, attendance proved lower than expected: in May 2026, online ticket sales were suspended and screenings were halted. The room remains part of the museum's infrastructure, and it is possible the project may be revived in different forms: it is advisable to check the official MACRO website before planning a visit.

The neighborhood and the context

MACRO occupies the former Peroni brewery plant between Via Nizza and Via Reggio Emilia, an early 20th-century industrial building converted and later expanded by architect Odile Decq. We are in the heart of the Salario-Nomentano district, a stone's throw from Porta Pia and Corso d'Italia: a residential, 19th-century area that, thanks to the museum, has become one of the hubs of contemporary Roman life, alongside MAXXI and the Mattatoio in Testaccio.