Bambini at the Cinema

Italian kids are cool. They drink wine-tainted water from toddlerhood. They have mad ball handling skills from the pressure of containing the soccer ball within the piazza. Lessons in risk tolerance begin on Daddy’s lap in the backseat of Nonno’s car (see photo). From here the risk exposure progresses incrementally until one day these no longer bambini are deftly carving a bob and weave pattern through traffic on a Vespa. Simply put, Italian kids hone their stay-up-late, strike-a-pose, get-your-food-savvy-on persona from the womb.

On my last research trip to Rome, I was fortunate to stumble onto an outdoor screening of ‘Fantasia’ in the Trastevere neighbourhood. It was an amassment of gelato-licking, child-adoring Italians who were cleverly draped over anciently laid stone. Bring a pillow if you can. If you’d like to curate your kids all’Italiana, this summer film festival in Piazza San Cosimato is a great place to start. Films are shown daily from June 1 – August 1 at 9:15pm. Thursday and Saturday nights are the nights to remember if you’re turning up with kids.  Fatamorgana Gelateria (located in the same square) is where I highly recommend you snag the requisite pre-show gelato. If you’re not travelling with kids, the gelato still applies as do the remaining five nights of the week for additional screenings. Selections include Scorsese, Wenders, Italian documentaries and more. Films are shown in English or with English subtitles. You can see the entire film schedule here.

If your kids hope to follow the lead of their underaged Italian counterparts, you might seriously consider leaving behind your 6:00pm dinners and barely-dusk bedtimes. Then you’ll be on track to join the array of young Italian families for an outdoor screening. It’s their big chance to mingle with the cool kids.

Meredith is Trufflepig’s newest addition. After more than a decade of collecting Italian stamps in her passport, she’s come to Toronto to join our Euro planning team. Contact her here for Italy inquiries.