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The ENIT 'Il Viaggio in Italia' Award goes to the documentary L’impero della Natura. Una notte al Parco del Colosseo (The empire of nature. A night at the Colosseum Park) by Luca Lancise and Marco Gentili

24 October 2023

PRESS RELEASE

ROME FILM FEST

18th-29th October 2023

The ENIT 'Il Viaggio in Italia' Award goes to the documentary L’impero della Natura. Una notte al Parco del Colosseo (The empire of nature. A night at the Colosseum Park) by Luca Lancise and Marco Gentili

The ENIT 'Il Viaggio in Italia' Award, sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Tourism and the Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT), was presented on Tuesday 24th October during the 18th edition of the Rome Film Fest. The Award went to L’impero della natura. Una notte al parco del Colosseo (The empire of nature. A night at the Colosseum Park) by Luca Lancise and Marco Gentili, presented in the Special Screenings section. Maria Ciani, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Minister of Tourism, presented the Award on the red carpet of the Ennio Morricone Auditorium Parco della Musica to director Luca Lancise and producer Matteo Urbinati.

The panel, comprising Stefania Ippoliti (Director of the Toscana Film Commission), Tiziana Rocca (producer and communications and events expert) and Maria Giuseppina Troccoli (Extraordinary Commissioner of the Roma Lazio Film Commission) rewarded the documentary with the following explanation: "Telling the story of our country, its culture and the beauty and uniqueness it has to offer without resorting to the most trivial and predictable iconography is no mean feat, and successfully making a documentary film that paints one of the most famous and visited places in the world in a different, unprecedented and surprising light is truly rare and worthy of recognition. These are the emotions and sentiments that we, the panel members of the ENIT 'Il Viaggio in Italia' Award, all felt and that inspired us to unanimously select this year's winning work at the 18th edition of the Rome Film Fest: L’impero della natura. Una notte al Parco del Colosseo (The empire of nature. A night at the Colosseum Park), in recognition of the magic, excitement and amazement this film allowed us to experience”.

L’impero della natura. Una notte al Parco del Colosseo (The empire of nature. A night at the Colosseum Park)

by Luca Lancise and Marco Gentili, Italy, 2023, 100 min.

In the shadow of the Colosseum, amidst the vestiges of the Roman Empire, lies a unique ecosystem that emerges when silence falls among the ruins of the Roman Forum. With exclusive access to the Colosseum Archaeological Park, it offers unique insight into the lives of numerous unexpected animal species that have made the millennia-old ruins their new home. We, too, can experience close encounters with emerald toads, prehistoric crabs, hermit rabbits, hornets and many other surprising inhabitants of this hidden planet, where the only human beings - when the tourists leave - are the pious men who inhabit the ancient monasteries on the Palatine Hill. The evolution of these animals in the ancient heart of Rome teaches us how Nature adapts to chaotic urban environments.

Francesca Cicatelli

ENIT Press Office

Via Marghera 2 - ROME

Phone: +39 06 4971 480

francesca.cicatelli@enit.it