The FUORI SALA format, created by Alice nella città in collaboration with and supported by the Department of Major Events, Sports, Tourism, and Fashion of Rome Capital, will unfold with various events during the month of October, preceding and accompanying the twenty-third edition of the festival directed by Fabia Bettini and Gianluca Giannelli, to conclude in the first days of November with the arrival in Rome of Robert De Niro.
The FUORI SALA program will range from meetings, live readings, literary presentations related to cinema and books, awards, and Womenlands events, dedicated to a new image of women in today's society, with the aim of enhancing businesses and the historic center of the Capital through audiovisuals.
FUORI SALA will start in October in the triangle from Via Condotti, Piazza di Spagna, Via del Babuino, Via Margutta, Piazza del Popolo and will then move in November to the district of Via Veneto, Barberini, Via Bissolati. The city's hotels and spaces that have joined and will host the various initiatives include, among others, the Hotel De La Ville, the Hotel De Russie, the Splendide Royal, the Hotel Parco dei Principi, the JK Place, the Hotel Hassler, the Hotel Eden, and Palazzo Ripetta, Palazzo Talia, alongside the Associations of Via Condotti, Via Margutta, and Via del Babuino.
The main activities and events are divided into different lines.
THE EXPERIENCES
Via Condotti, Via del Babuino, and Via Margutta will be set up to welcome the guests of Fuori Sala, who will have the opportunity to rediscover the historic center and the streets of the city, taking iconic shots in the streets and enjoying walks with routes related to fashion and the discovery of Rome and the city's historic shops.
THE WHITE NIGHT
The White Night of Via Margutta, which will take place on October 14 with extraordinary openings until midnight of over 30 galleries, featuring exhibitions, performances, experiences, and live readings related to the Womenlands cycle, will ideally kick off Fuori Sala.
Many events between art, music, and cinema will unfold along the street, including the stand-up comedy show "Exaggerate! More than an adjective, an exhortation" by Cinzia Spanò, actress, author, and theater director and president of the Amleta Association for combating gender disparity and abuse in the entertainment world.
WOMENLANDS
The program line created three years ago to highlight a new role for women in contemporary society and the city's sensitivity to the theme of rights and inclusion will be articulated in various moments such as "I Am Womenlands", a project born from the partnership between Alice nella città and the non-profit production company "We Do It Together" founded by director and producer Chiara Tilesi, who also conceived the awareness campaign "I Am" for female empowerment. The campaign started in New York in September 2024 with the projection on the famous Nasdaq Tower in Times Square of images of over forty prominent women in the global entertainment industry.
An experience that for Fuori Sala will arrive with a renewed and expanded version with more than 50 images of women, created in collaboration with Fuori Sala, Alice nella città, and We Do It Together, featuring a flash mob in an iconic location of the Capital at the Spanish Steps on Saturday, October 18 at 8:00 PM, with the presence of singer Tosca who will perform on the steps with her musicians. She will be among the recipients of the Womenlands Excellence Award along with Golden Bear-winning director Carla Simon, who will be honored with screenings of "Summer 1993", "Alcarràs - The Last Harvest", and the Italian premiere of "Romería", and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Reem Hajajreh, a Palestinian activist and founder of the Women of the Sun group, winner of the 2025 Council of Europe Award for Women's Empowerment.
The other awardees will be announced at the Alice nella città press conference.
CINEMA AND BOOKS
Another important line of Fuori Sala will be the literary programming with various paths: the "From Book to Screen" cycle with books that have been adapted into films and TV series, some of which are scheduled at Alice nella città; "Directors and actors who love to write" like Rocco Papaleo who will present "Wasting Time Comes Easy to Me, a Musical Autobiography of a Southern Man on Leave" (published by Mondadori) and "Stories that Tell the Capital" like those narrated in "Hamartìa" by writer Rossana Soldano (published by Mondadori) and the special meeting with Alessandro Ferrucci who will share stories, anecdotes, and secrets of the entertainment world collected in his book "You Don't Know What Happened" published by Paper First.
THE VIA CONDOTTI AWARD
The Via Condotti Award, established in 1977 and awarded every year "to those who, not Roman, love Rome and are loved in return", highlights the excellence that promotes Rome worldwide, combining the award's great tradition with innovation and a more modern formula. Starting from the tradition of prestigious personalities from the world of science, institutions, culture, and entertainment to whom it has been awarded over the years (Eduardo De Filippo, Federico Fellini, Renato Guttuso, Luchino Visconti, John Paul II, the King of Spain, President Ciampi, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, Nilde Iotti, Audrey Hepburn, Michele Placido, Fiorello, Mariangela Melato, and Giuseppe Tornatore), the aim is also to give a formative value to the initiative by working on the sense of community and belonging that is a feeling that unites everyone, involving the public and young people to bring the streets of the center to life.
During the festival days, Via Condotti, Via Margutta, and Via del Babuino will be decorated with banners and a photocall will be set up at Largo Goldoni to take iconic shots in the streets and experiences with the Via Condotti awardees.
ROBERT DE NIRO
FUORI SALA will conclude in November and move to the Barberini district, one of the most cinematic places in the city, which will host a major event on Via Veneto with the arrival of Robert De Niro, Nobu Matsuisha, and Meyer Teper for the traditional Kagami Biraki, the breaking of the sake barrel, the ancient Japanese ceremony that symbolizes opening towards harmony and good fortune. The ceremony will take place on Via Veneto in front of Nobu Roma and will be a special occasion for the street and the entire district to kick off the two days of celebrations on November 6 and 7 dedicated to the great actor.
FUORI SALA is a project conceived by Alice nella città with the support of the Department of Major Events, Sports, Tourism, and Fashion of Rome Capital in collaboration with the Department of Culture and the I Municipality. Thanks to the Associations of Via Condotti, Via Margutta, and Via del Babuino, NOBU ROMA, and the Hotel De La Ville, Hotel De Russie, Splendide Royal, Hotel Parco dei Principi, JK Place, Hotel Hassler, Hotel Eden, and Palazzo Ripetta, Palazzo Talia.
All Fuori Sala events will be open to the public and free of charge until seats are filled, with reservations required. Additionally, a dedicated line will be activated for all Alice nella città accredited attendees.
"The streets of Rome have always been streets of cinema. From 'La Dolce Vita' to 'Mission Impossible', from Fellini to Ridley Scott, Nanni Moretti, Carlo Verdone, Paolo Sorrentino, and Ferzan Ozpetek. FUORI SALA is a simple, almost physiological operation, starting from the Festival to bring cinema to the streets of the city, to the citizens, to the tourists. In short, open cinema for the open city - declare the directors of Alice nella città Fabia Bettini and Gianluca Giannelli -. The idea is to transform the places we cross and live every day into opportunities for meeting and storytelling, culture as a tool for inclusion, active participation, and urban enhancement, through a widespread, free, and accessible program, a shared cultural ecosystem capable of activating resources, languages, and spaces of the city, a choral and shared project that puts Rome at the center thanks to audiovisuals and culture and to courageous entrepreneurs".
