Tucked into a curve in the road just passed Porta Portese, Cinema Nuovo Sacher has always intrigued me.
Originally built in the 1930s, the movie theater was placed here to provide affordable entertainment to the working-class residents of Trastevere and Testaccio.
The vintage sign at the entrance to the cinema led me to believe that not much has changed.
However, Cinema Nuovo Sacher is now owned by award winning film maker Nanni Moretti.
The Palme d’Or winner is well known in Italian film and has even served as the head of the jury for the Cannes Film Festival. His best known film is likely The Son’s Room.
Surely, his theater was going to be doing something interesting, no?
Today, the single screen cinema shows Indie films and offbeat classics according to a schedule that is published monthly on their website.
During the warmer months, the screenings move outside into a sizable amphitheater. Even though the movie is being shown in the open, I was impressed with the quality of the image as well as the sound.
For your €6 admission, you are also give a small cushion to use on the metal chairs if your movie will be shown in the open air theater.
Most of the movies are in Italian, but there are sometimes screenings shown in original language with Italian subtitles as well.
Quirky to the core, the retro concessions stand even stocks a rich chocolate sacher cake as a reference to the cinema’s name.
With just one theater, it can be hard to catch the showings but it is worth following the schedule to try to find an interesting film screening in the classic cinema space.
(Sorry for the iPhone photos, I didn’t want to bring my Fuji along on date night).
Once again you have what I have been looking for. Staying near Campo de Fiore, this is not too long a walk. But it is difficult to see which films if any may be in English. Any suggestions? PS using the new Discover Rome APP, Ilike it. Got my rice balls from Supplizio only 200 feet from our apartment. They were fantiastic. Could really pig out here.
So glad that you tried the app and the supplì! They are delicious!
For the movies, usually there will be an asterisk to denote original language for English films. There are usually a couple per month, but unfortunately not every day.