Cinema Europa to reopen as new cultural and educational space for Europe’s oldest film school in a project welcomed by Italy’s culture minister.
Netflix celebrates 10 years of streaming in Italy by partnering with Italy’s National Film School, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC), to reopen a disused cinema in Rome.
The project will see the Cinema Europa, which has been closed since the covid pandemic, reopen as a new cultural and educational space for the CSC, Europe’s oldest film school.
The historic cinema, located in the Porta Pia area of Rome, will be dedicated to the National Film Archive and will host film projects by students of the CSC.
Destined to become a hub for the promotion of cinema and audiovisual media, this will be the first movie theatre within the city walls for the CSC which is based near Cinecittà Studios in the suburbs.
The move marks the beginning of a new partnership between the Centro Sperimentale and the world’s leading streaming entertainment service, whose Italian headquarters is located near the US embassy in Rome.
Netflix is supporting the project partnership with a €4 million sponsorship, which will go towards renovation and management costs, as part of a five-year agreement.
The US streaming giant will also collaborate with the CSC on the development of film education and culture initiatives in the refurbished Cinema Europa which is set to open in late 2026.
Cinema Europa is a symbolic place in the history of Italian cinema: 120 years ago it hosted the first public screening of an Italian film, La presa di Roma, a short black-and-white silent film directed by Filoteo Alberini.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and CSC president Gabriella Buontempo launched the initiative in Rome on Thursday at a press conference which opened with a video address from Italy’s culture minister Alessandro Giuli.
Praising Netflix for its “special contribution to our country”, Giuli hailed the deal as “a concrete example of virtuous collaboration between the public and private sectors, between tradition and innovation”.
Sarandos noted that Netflix has launched “more than 1,000 movies and series from Italy” and over the past five years has supported “more than 5,500 jobs” in the Italian audiovisual sector.
Image: CSC president Gabriella Buontempo and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Photo: Virginia Bettoja.
