French directors Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras, Michel Hazanavicius, Cédric Klapisch and Coline Serreau have been the first signatories of a petition launched in France in favor of protecting the legendary Cinecitta film studios in Rome, which is being zeroed in on by real estate developers. After a petition drive was launched by French film trade associations, directors like Radu Mihaileanu, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Abderrahmane Sissako and

Google and Cinecittà's Luce Institute (Cinecittà which is pronounced "chee-nay chee-tah," translates to "cinema city"), which offers a permanent window into that country's rich film heritage, this week announced a new partnership aiming at preserving Italian cinema. "This announcement represents an important step in our efforts to safeguard Italy's rich culture and allow global public access to it," said Federica Tremolada, You-