George Lucas on Tuesday joined a
drive led by Martin Scorsese and other creative greats to save
Rome's cultural spaces and especially cinemas from being turned
into malls, supermarkets and hotels.
Lucas followed his old partner Steven Spielberg who signed the
appeal on Monday.
From Isabella Rossellini to Léa Seydoux, from Alfonso Cuaron to
Olivier Assayas, a long list of renowned directors and actors
have signed an appeal launched by Scorsese, Francis Ford
Coppola, Jane Campion, Wes Anderson and Ari Aster urging
President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Giorgia Meloni to
prevent movie theatres that have been shut down in Rome and
beyond from being converted into commercial slots.
The concern that had led many artists to mobilize over the past
few weeks, already expressed by architect and Life Senator Renzo
Piano, has been voiced in the United States, where Scorsese
urged colleagues from around the world to sign the letter to
"save the last possibility of redemption of one of the most
important cultural and artistic cities of the world".
So far, the letter has been signed, among others, by J.J Abrams,
Judd Apatow, Fanny Ardant, Sean Baker, Cate Blanchett, Damien
Chazelle, Pedro Costa, Mark Cousins, David Cronenberg, Willem
Dafoe, Joe Dante, Guillermo Del Toro, James Franco,
Massimiliano Fuksas, John Landis, Yorgos Lanthimos, Spike Lee,
Kenneth Lonergan, Michael Mann, Radu Mihaileanu, Mark Ruffalo,
Paul Schrader, Giuseppe Tornatore, John Turturro, Thomas
Vinterberg, Debra Winger and Edgar Wright.
"As eloquently expressed by Renzo Piano" in his description of
the "current situation in Rome", the attempt to reconvert
"spaces intended for the possible cultural renaissance of the
Eternal City into hotels, malls and supermarkets is totally
unacceptable.
"Such a transformation would represent an irreparable loss: a
deep profanation not only for the rich history of the city, but
also for the cultural heritage to be left to future
generations", said the appeal.
Scorsese, who first signed the letter, intends to "prevent any
reconversion of Rome's cultural spaces".
"It is our duty to transform these abandoned 'cathedrals in the
desert' into true temples of culture, places that are able to
nourish the souls of both present and future generations", it
concluded, calling for action to tackle an emergency affecting
first of all the Piccolo America movie theatre in the capital.
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