Crowds larger than life gathered at Cinecittà Studios. The filming of M. Son of the Century, a TV show about the rise of Benito Mussolini, was in full swing, taking up a large part of the famous studios located on the outskirts of Rome. To mark the occasion, the international press was invited to visit in early April. Journalists were offered coffee capsules embossed with an evocative "M" in the colors of the Italian flag. The impoverished Milan of the 1920s had been recreated outdoors, not far from Cinecittà's iconic sets filled with ancient colonnades. With his burly build and impassioned gestures, Luca Marinelli, the actor portraying the dictator, roused a mass of extras. In a neighboring studio, another scene from M. Son of the Century was being taped thanks to state-of-the-art technology: LED screens were installed all around the set to help the actors' performance.

The show, which is scheduled for 2024 (and whose French broadcaster has yet to be announced) is emblematic for two reasons. First, because Cinecittà was the brainchild of Mussolini himself, who made it the armed wing of Fascist propaganda when it opened in 1937. Second, because with its eight-month shoot, €50 million budget and lengthy credits, the series symbolizes the revival of the Roman studio.

On Cinecittà's 40-hectare site, the shadows cast by umbrella pines now meet those of cranes and bulldozers. Between now and 2026, five new studios will be built and four of the 19 existing structures will be renovated. It's hard to imagine that just 10 years ago, picket lines were being organized in the same location. The employees refused to accept the fate promised by the owners of the time: becoming just another stop on the tourist road to Rome. The studios were in danger of being dismantled and the staff sent to work in an amusement park.

The dream factory's global hub

Between takes, Joe Wright, the English director of M. Son of the Century, received an impromptu visit from an admirer, his peer Luca Guadagnino. "We encouraged each other," said the director of Call Me by Your Name. At the same time, the Italian filmmaker was shooting Queer, an adaptation of a William Burroughs novel set in Mexico. On a hill in the Roman studios, a tropical forest was erected using a mix of artificial plants and other vegetation imported from Sicily, the region where the director grew up. "I didn't want a classic period film," said Guadagnino. "I came to Cinecittà looking for what Jean-Luc Godard found while shooting Le Mépris (Contempt): an 'elsewhere.' It's my way of being faithful to the 'elsewhere' invented by Burroughs."

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