Le Follie del Documentario

Le Follie del Documentario: Non-fiction cinema in Rome

Le Follie del Documentario is a festival that transforms Spazio Scena into a home for documentary cinema in the heart of Trastevere, Rome, every Thursday from mid-April to early June. The festival is the result of a collaboration between LAZIOcrea, the in-house agency of the Lazio Region, and the CSC - Cineteca Nazionale. It is curated by Steve Della Casa, curator of the Cineteca Nazionale and one of the most authoritative voices in Italian film criticism.

The title immediately reveals the project's philosophy: a commitment to non-fiction cinema, built—as Della Casa explains—on the "most important screenplay ever written, the one that reality offers us every day." The curator often argues that there is more creativity and emotion in a documentary than in a fictional film.

Spazio Scena, heir to the Filmstudio

The festival takes place at Via degli Orti d'Alibert 1, an address synonymous with film history in Rome. This was the home of the legendary Filmstudio, a cineclub that shaped generations of cinephiles and filmmakers since the 1960s. Today, Spazio Scena continues that legacy, bringing auteur programming, meetings, and debates back to those halls, restoring the venue as a landmark of Roman film culture.

The 2026 Program

Every Thursday is dedicated to documentaries, with a selection ranging from auteur perspectives to historical research and contemporary storytelling. Screenings are often accompanied by film book presentations, offering opportunities for deeper insight and meetings with authors, scholars, and industry figures.

• April 16 (6:30 PM, repeat at 9:00 PM): Quel che resta. A proposito della restanza (2026, 100'), with a discussion led by Steve Della Casa and Filippo Mauceri.
• April 23 (8:00 PM): The Rossellinis (2020, 96'), with Alessandro Rossellini in attendance.
• The festival continues on subsequent Thursdays until early June with further auteur documentaries and filmmaker Q&As.

I Volti di Roma: The parallel series

Le Follie del Documentario is complemented every Friday by the I Volti di Roma series, dedicated to the great stars of Italian cinema through restored films: from Anna Magnani in Bellissima and Mamma Roma to Nino Manfredi, Monica Vitti, and Alberto Sordi. This double weekly appointment makes Spazio Scena a guardian of both the memory and the present of cinema in the Capital.

A Lazio Region project

Promoted by LAZIOcrea for the Lazio Region in partnership with the CSC - Cineteca Nazionale, the festival is part of a broader strategy to enhance cinematic heritage and promote cultural dialogue around film. In the Municipality of Rome, and more broadly in the Lazio region, Le Follie del Documentario offers audiences a regular, high-profile, and free encounter with non-fiction cinema.