Casa del Cinema — House of Cinema
The Casa del Cinema (House of Cinema) is Rome’s dedicated film culture centre, housed in the Villa Torlonia estate in the Villa Borghese gardens. Opened in 2004 and managed by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, it offers daily screenings, retrospectives, exhibitions, and a library dedicated to Italian and international film heritage, making it the main institutional home for cinema in the Italian capital.
At a glance
- Type
- Film cultural centre, cinema, archive, and library
- Period
- Building: early 20th century; current use from 2004
- Style
- Neoclassical villa repurposed as cultural venue
- Location
- Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy
- Coordinates
- 41.9109° N, 12.4875° E
Overview
The Casa del Cinema occupies a 19th-century casino (pleasure pavilion) within the Villa Borghese, Rome’s largest public park. It hosts three screening rooms — the Sala Deluxe, Sala Kodak, and the open-air terrace Arena — alongside a permanent exhibition space tracing the history of Italian cinema and a specialist library with more than 30,000 volumes. The centre is also one of the venues of the Rome Film Fest (Festa del Cinema di Roma) held each autumn.
History
The building that houses the centre was part of the historic Villa Borghese park infrastructure, maintained by the Municipality of Rome. The project to create a dedicated cinema house in Rome was developed in the early 2000s under the cultural administration of Mayor Walter Veltroni, with the aim of providing a permanent institutional counterpart to the Venice Film Festival’s presence in northern Italy. The Casa del Cinema opened in 2004 and has since been a cornerstone of Rome’s film programming, hosting premieres, tributes, and educational events year-round.
What you see
The building presents a modest neoclassical exterior set amid the trees and paths of the Villa Borghese. Inside, the renovated interiors combine historic architectural features with a contemporary cinema and exhibition fit-out. The outdoor arena, used for evening screenings in summer, commands a pleasant view over the surrounding park. Permanent displays on the history of Italian film are complemented by rotating temporary exhibitions on directors, genres, and film festivals.
Cultural significance
The Casa del Cinema provides Rome — historically the production heart of Italian cinema, from the Cinecittà studios to the Neorealist movement — with a venue dedicated exclusively to film as art and heritage. It bridges popular cinema culture and archival scholarship, making it an important node in Italy’s institutional film ecosystem alongside the Cineteca Nazionale and the Venice Biennale.
Practical information
- Address
- Largo Marcello Mastroianni 1, 00197 Rome, Italy
- Access
- Screenings require a ticket; exhibitions and library access may vary; check official website
- Website
- casadelcinema.it
Getting there
The Casa del Cinema is located inside the Villa Borghese park. The most convenient approach is from the Spagna metro stop (line A), from which it is a 15-minute walk through the park. Alternatively, tram line 3 and bus line 910 stop near the Villa Borghese entrances. There is limited parking at the Pincio terrace above Piazza del Popolo.