The Man Who Bought The Moon by Paolo Zucca and Il flauto magico di Piazza Vittorio by Mario Tronco and Gianfranco Cabiddu to screen for patients and family members

Ambassador for MediCinema, Italian actress and writer Chiara Francini, to attend the event

MediCinema Gemelli movie theatre at Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS opens its doors for the second year in a row to Rome Film Fest, with two films from the official lineup reserved for in-patients and their families and for the doctors and medical staff of the Gemelli Hospital.

The screenings begin Tuesday October 23^rd (4 pm) with the comedy The Man Who Bought The Moon by Paolo Zucca with Francesco Pannofino - who will be attending - Jacopo Cullin, Stefano Fresi, Benito Urgu, Lazar Ristovski, Angela Molina. Whereas Thursday October 25^th (4 pm), the featured screening will be the musical Il flauto magico di Piazza Vittorio by Mario Tronco and Gianfranco Cabiddu, with Violetta Zironi, Ernesto Lopez Maturell, Petra Magoni, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, El Hadij Yeri Samb.

Thus, the extraordinary collaboration the Rome Film Fest began in 2017 with the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS and MediCinema Italia Onlus for the patients of the hospital continues, with two screenings of films selected from the official lineup of the fest, carefully selected for a very special audience, the hospital patients.

This year, to support cinema's therapeutic activity, MediCinema Italia Onlus announces the important testimony of actress and writer Chiara Francini, who will serve as Ambassador for the non-profit organization, to spread the word about the work of the Association: "I am very pleased – stated Chiara Francini – to welcome and serve as Ambassador to the MediCinema project. I strongly believe that the magic of cinema can bring support and distraction from the suffering that patients must endure in the course of their illness".

Since April 2016, Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli di Roma has had a real movie theatre inside, which began operating regularly in September of that year with a bi-weekly schedule of screenings dedicated to making the patients feel better, on Tuesdays for all patients and on Thursdays reserved for the pediatric wards. The screenings of the films, concurrent with their release in "normal" movie theatres around the city ­– thanks to the committed cooperation of film production and distribution companies – are dedicated to the hospital's patients and their family members and friends: an innovative therapeutic instrument that combines with traditional therapies to offer inpatients a "pause", the relief of feeling normal, implementing a protocol for the humanization of the hospital structure, as well as the goal of using film therapy as an objective of clinical methodology for rehabilitation, reinforcing the concept of healing and service to the individual. The methods and management of the programme, now being developed at the national level, are entrusted to MediCinema Italia Onlus, which is also promoting a scientific research project in collaboration with the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS in Rome, Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda in Milan, Fondazione Don Gnocchi and other hospitals in cities where MediCinema operates.

"We are very happy with the relationship that is being consolidated in this successful initiative that combines culture, international scope and popularity, as does the Rome Film Fest – stated the President of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Giovanni Raimondi. Our participation is proof of our hospital's open approach to our territory, and to the humanization project initiated by the Gemelli hospital, which intends to offer both adult and pediatric patients, as well as the doctors and the medical staff, opportunities for entertainment and relief during their time in the hospital".

The Artistic Director of the Rome Film Fest, Antonio Monda, stated: "In addition to the usual venues of MAXXI and Casa del Cinema, the fest is spreading even further out into the city than last year, with screenings and events in special locations such as the Policlinico Gemelli in the Sala MediCinema theatre, an original example in Italy that should be imitated, to bring relief through cinema to hospital patients".

"We would like to thank the Rome Film Fest and its organizers, for allowing us to create a special event for patients, their families and the medical staff. For this important occasion, MediCinema Italia announces the presence of its Ambassador, actress Chiara Francini, who will support the work of our Association with her testimony about the therapeutic power of cinema", concluded Fulvia Salvi, President of MediCinema Italia Onlus.