Press Release

A section dedicated to water in the fourth edition of the summer festival opening soon at the park of the aqueducts

Additionally, the Group is launching the second edition of “I mille volti dell’acqua” (The Thousand Faces of Water), a short movie contest highlighting the importance of the water resource. The winning short film will be screened at the Rome Film Festival

The fourth edition of “Roma Cinema Arena” will begin tomorrow, with the support of Acea as main partner. The large open-air cinema with around one thousand seats, was built by the Rome Cinema Foundation and is located in one of the most evocative places in the city: the Park of the Aqueducts. From Thursday 26 June to 24 July, the programme will feature twenty-nine screenings, held every evening with free admission starting at 21:15, and introduced by directors, actors, artists, and set designers. 

During the summer festival, alongside “Roma Cinema Arena”, Acea, Italy’s leading water operator, serving over 10 million people, will present a short retrospective of three films about water, titled “Gocce di Cinema” (Drops of Cinema). The goal is to raise public awareness about the value of this resource. The retrospective will begin on Thursday 10 July with the screening of Hollywood Party by Blake Edwards. In its legendary final sequence, the party guests dive into the pool of the magnificent villa hosting them: a masterpiece of the Sixties in which water becomes a symbol of freedom and the breaking of conventions. On Saturday 12 July, Poor but Beautiful by Dino Risi will be screened. Shot in 1957, the film features the Tiber River, then still suitable for swimming, as the backdrop for some of its most beautiful scenes. On Friday 18 July, The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro will be shown. The director sets his love story in the depths of the sea and, throughout the entire film, shows how feelings, like water, cannot be contained.  

On this occasion, Acea is launching the second edition of its short film contest dedicated to water-themed works, “I mille volti dell’acqua” (The Thousand Faces of Water), in collaboration with the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. The contest, whose first edition was won by Ocean Cleaner by Davide Salucci, aims to raise public awareness about the importance of protecting water and using it responsibly, through the creative power of cinematic language. This year’s theme is “I custodi dell’acqua. Difendere il futuro goccia dopo goccia” (The Guardians of Water. Defending the Future Drop by Drop). The winning short film will be screened at the next Rome Film Fest, to be held in October. Contest entries can be submitted starting on 27 June via the following link.