Trastevere to lose soul if Cinema America pulled down - NYT

(ANSA) - Rome, August 18 - Rome's once working-class and increasingly trendy Trastevere district will "lose its soul" if the historic Cinema America is pulled down amid rising gentrification, the New York Times said in a long article on the threat to the character of the neighbourhood.
    The article, entitled An Old Cinema Tests Rome's Stance on Gentrification, said "the continuing story of the Cinema America theater has become central to the narrative of a gentrifying neighborhood that some said was at risk of losing its soul.
    "Over the years, Trastevere has changed from a neighborhood of port workers and laborers, along with some seedier sorts (a character called the "trasteverino" helps Edmond Dantés exact his revenge in "The Count of Monte Cristo").
    "Today Trastevere's craggy, cobblestone streets are overrun with tourists. Restaurants and bars have muscled out more traditional shops and local artisans. Many apartments are now run as bed-and-breakfasts or turned for cash".
    The article said the encroachment of tourism has angered many residents. That is why the battle to save the Cinema America "has revitalized the neighborhood," said Guido Hermanin, president of the Associazione Progetto Trastevere, which has been fighting to preserve the theater.
    It was occupied by students for two years until 2014, since when the protesters have taken their campaign to keep it open to the streets of an area identified with cinema history.
    "Trastevere was known as the cinema district," Hermanin said.
    The well-known actor Alberto Sordi was born just off the Piazza San Cosimato, the director Sergio Leone lived in the area, and directors Nanni Moretti and Bernardo Bertolucci still do, he noted.
    The campaigners have organised a summer open-air cinema season to keep up interest in their drive.
    The final film shown in the outdoor cinema this year was Gianni Di Gregorio's sweet comedy, "Pranzo di Ferragosto," or "Mid-August Lunch," which was coincidentally set in Trastevere, and included a local actor or two.
    "You've done something marvelous," the director told the organizers and spectators before the screening of the film. "The youth of the Cinema America are doing something important. Not just for Trastevere but for Rome and for Italy."