Fondazione Piccolo America inaugurates a new chapter in its cultural commitment with La Residenza, a training and development project dedicated to young filmmakers under 35 from around the world.

Fondazione Piccolo America inaugurates a new chapter in its cultural commitment with La Residenza, a training and development project dedicated to young filmmakers under 35 from around the world. This initiative represents a natural evolution of the path taken by the Foundation, which for years has been dedicated to the promotion of film culture through projects of national and international scope.

La Residenza, which will take place in Rome from June 9 to July 6, is part of a larger cultural project that, together with the decade-long success of Il Cinema in Piazza, contributes greatly to the creation of an interconnected film ecosystem. At the end of the project, the four selected filmmakers will have the opportunity to present their pitches to Numero 10, a production company founded by Paolo Sorrentino. This vision combines free screenings, accessible to the entire community, with excellent professional training paths and the development of creative projects. The project is thus configured as an important element of innovation in the Italian cultural landscape, with a strong impact on the Italian and international creative industry, offering new opportunities for growth, exchange and collaboration.

The artistic vision of Valeria Golino, mentor of the first edition, will guide the training, which includes dedicated mentoring with professional figures in the industry, weekly workshops led by leading industry figures, in a stimulating and high-level learning environment. Participants will also enjoy unlimited access to screenings at Cinema Troisi, will be able to explore the cult sites of Roman film history through guided tours, and will have the opportunity to participate in exclusive meetings with the guests of Il Cinema in Piazza 2025.

La Residenza will host four emerging talents in an accommodation in the heart of Rome and will offer the opportunity to develop their screenplays while immersing themselves in the rich cultural landscape of Italy, which has always been a source of inspiration for the world’s film art. The program is designed for filmmakers who are working on their first or second fiction feature film, who have already participated in a film festival, as specified in the announcement.

The Residency is not only an educational experience, but a concrete springboard for the film industry, a bridge that represents a chance to turn creative ideas into funded and implemented projects.

«With La Residenza we are carrying out our dream: to transform Rome, and Italy, into a crossroads of creativity where the greats of today meet the talents of tomorrow,» says Valerio Carocci of the Piccolo America Foundation. «On the heels of the 11th edition of Il Cinema in Piazza, which over the years has hosted international and national personalities such as Edward Norton, Wes Anderson, Paolo Sorrentino, Emma Seligman, and Damien Chazelle, and together with Cinema Troisi, a single-screen cinema returned to the city in 2021 after years of neglect, with La Residenza we want to enhance emerging filmmakers from all over the world, who will have the unique opportunity to dialogue with the prestigious guests who come to Rome every year, continuing to affirm its centrality in the European and international cultural scene, to create a direct bridge between new talents and the masters of world cinema. The Residency aims to be a new space for creativity, stimulated by confrontation with an active community of enthusiasts and professionals, contributing to make Italian and international cinema a laboratory of experimentation and innovation.»

«Our commitment has always been to the creation of multi-programming that can naturally juxtapose the debut works of emerging talents with masterpieces signed by the greats of Italian and international cinema,» says Alice Catucci, head of programming at Cinema Troisi. «The first edition of La Residenza represents the natural evolution of this vision: a concrete opportunity for emerging authors to refine and consolidate their skills in the development of audiovisual projects, benefiting from direct confrontation with influential voices of the contemporary film scene.»

La Residenza will offer the accommodation to the four directors. Those selected will be reimbursed for their round-trip flights, up to a maximum of €1,500, and will receive a financial contribution of €1,000 for the duration of their stay.

Registration is open from April 18 to May 17, 2025.