Italy, and specifically the cities of Rome and Parma, have received major recognition from UNESCO. The UN agency for education, science and culture today declared Rome a "Creative City for Film." This prestigious international endorsement was officially announced in Paris. The the capital – which is already part of UNESCO's Heritage of Mankind since 1980 – now joins the network of "creative localities," which has hitherto comprised 69 cities in 32 countries, including Bologna for music and Turin for design.

Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities Dario Franceschini described it as "a great achievement for the country and for Italian cinema as a whole." "The world's foremost cultural institution," he added, "has recognized the strategic part played by the film industry in the Italian capital's life and identity. It comes at a particularly good time for the film industry of a city that hosted the first film studios in the world and one of the oldest and most prestigious film schools. The streets of Rome, its squares, monuments, churches, buildings and archaeological sites and Cinecitta' itself have again become a natural backdrop for major international films thanks to the new tax credit rules."

Read more

Source: http://www.britalypost.com/