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La Fondazione Piccolo America nasce nel settembre 2014 dall’esperienza di “Assemblea Giovani al Centro”, un collettivo di ragazze e ragazzi delle scuole del centro di Roma, principalmente provenienti dalla periferia, che dal 2011 cercavano spazi dove dare vita a un’alternativa culturale al consumo connesso alla movida e al turismo. Quella prima assemblea permanente porta alla formazione del collettivo degli occupanti del Cinema America, un gruppo eterogeneo che dà vita alla vivace esperienza culturale di via Natale del Grande.

Oggi, tuttavia, al Piccolo America la definizione di associazione sta stretta. Il gruppo è in realtà un’entità molto più vasta e fluida: un collettivo composto da amici, ma anche una rete che coinvolge genitori, nonni, fratelli e amici che partecipano spesso agli eventi e aiutano con le loro idee e competenze, rendendo l’esperienza una vera e propria famiglia allargata che si attiva a seconda delle necessità.

Tra le iniziative promosse in questi anni, ricordiamo gli Schermi Pirata, che hanno portato le immagini dei grandi film sui muri e i monumenti della città, e Il Cinema in Piazza, che ha coinvolto gran parte del mondo cinematografico italiano e internazionale, da Asghar Farhadi a Paul Schrader, da Jeremy Irons a Ken Loach, e poi tra gli altri Stefania Sandrelli, Wim Wenders, Paweł Pawlikowski, Mathieu Kassovitz, JR, Roberto Benigni, Paolo Sorrentino, Matteo Garrone, Paolo Virzì, Francesca Archibugi, Paola Cortellesi e Carlo Verdone, senza dimenticare i compianti maestri Bernardo Bertolucci, Ennio Morricone, Gigi Proietti, Ettore Scola e Francesco Rosi. 

Lo spirito di quanto fatto in oltre dieci anni di attività ha oggi portato alla riapertura del Cinema Troisi a Trastevere, uno spazio di cultura aperto a tutti, con una sala cinematografica all’avanguardia, un’aula studio aperta 365 giorni l’anno per 24 ore al giorno, un foyer-bar e una splendida terrazza.

Definire il Piccolo America è complicato per i suoi stessi protagonisti: è per questo che loro preferiscono farsi chiamare semplicemente i ragazzi del Cinema America.

THE DISCOVERY OF (THE) AMERICA

A group of young people, hailing from the outskirts of the city, but all students of schools in the historical center, occupied Cinema America on November 13, 2012, after months of assemblies with Trastevere residents, in order to save it from being converted into parking lots and apartments. Two years later, after the demolition of the historic hall, built in 1956 and designed by architect Di Castro, was blocked, the young people were evicted but remained in the street that had seen them grow a little bigger: Via Natale del Grande. In a small abandoned oven, granted to them free of charge by some residents, they reactivated their projector and, with the support of Bernardo Bertolucci and the late Franco Rosi and Ettore Scola, continued their battle to save Rome’s historic cinemas.

THE DISCOVERY

OF (THE) AMERICA

A group of young people, hailing from the outskirts of the city, but all students of schools in the historical center, occupied Cinema America on November 13, 2012, after months of assemblies with Trastevere residents, in order to save it from being converted into parking lots and apartments. Two years later, after the demolition of the historic hall, built in 1956 and designed by architect Di Castro, was blocked, the young people were evicted but remained in the street that had seen them grow a little bigger: Via Natale del Grande. In a small abandoned oven, granted to them free of charge by some residents, they reactivated their projector and, with the support of Bernardo Bertolucci and the late Franco Rosi and Ettore Scola, continued their battle to save Rome’s historic cinemas.

THE DISCOVERY OF (THE) AMERICA

The Piccolo America Foundation was born in September 2014 from the experience of “Assemblea Giovani al Centro”, a collective of girls and boys from schools in the center of Rome, mainly from the outskirts, who since 2011 had been looking for spaces to create a cultural alternative to the consumption related to nightlife and tourism. That first permanent assembly led to the formation of the collective of Cinema America squatters, a heterogeneous group that gave birth to the lively cultural experience of Via Natale del Grande.

Today, however, the definition of association is too narrow for Piccolo America. The group is actually a much larger and fluid entity: a collective made up of friends, but also a network that involves parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends who often participate in events and help with their ideas and skills, making the experience a real extended family that activates according to the needs.

Among the initiatives promoted in recent years, we recall Schermi Pirata, which brought the images of great films to the walls and monuments of the city, and Cinema in Piazza, which involved a large part of the Italian and international film world, from Asghar Farhadi to Paul Schrader, from Jeremy Irons to Ken Loach, and then among others Stefania Sandrelli, Wim Wenders, Paweł Pawlikowski, Mathieu Kassovitz, JR, Roberto Benigni, Paolo Sorrentino, Matteo Garrone, Paolo Virzì, Francesca Archibugi, Paola Cortellesi, and Carlo Verdone, not to mention the late masters Bernardo Bertolucci, Ennio Morricone, Gigi Proietti, Ettore Scola, and Francesco Rosi.

The spirit of what has been done in over ten years of activity has now led to the reopening of Cinema Troisi in Trastevere, a space of culture open to everyone, with a state-of-the-art cinema hall, a study room open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, a foyer-bar, and a beautiful terrace.

Defining Piccolo America is complicated for its own protagonists: that’s why they prefer to simply call themselves the kids from Cinema America.

“TALKING WITH THESE KIDS, I REALIZED THAT THEY KNEW ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT CINEMA AND I SAID TO MYSELF: HOW BEAUTIFUL, THEY WILL LEARN ABOUT CINEMA BY PROJECTING AND BUILDING IT!”

Bernardo Bertolucci

THE HISTORY OF CINEMA AMERICA
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