Musician Mario Tronco and filmmaker Agostino Ferrente are two friends who both live in Rome's Piazza Vittorio neighborhood, a multi-ethnic community which is largely populated by immigrants from all corners of the world. Piazza Vittorio is also home to a beautiful vintage theater, the Apollo, which was had been used for years as a concert hall. In 2001, due to waning attendance, the owners were considering selling the venue to entrepreneurs who wanted to turn it into a bingo parlor. Determined to prevent this from happening, Tronco and Ferrente started a community organization with an eye towards turning the Apollo into a multi-media performance space, and with this in mind they began assembling a musical ensemble, using talent from the neighborhood. The group eventually grew to thirty musicians, featuring musicians who embraced a variety of musical styles, ethnic instruments and approaches towards their instruments. The ensemble, L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, developed international acclaim for their eclectic music, and Agostino Ferrente documented their progress while making a film about the campaign to save the theater.
L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio
(aka
The Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio
) is a documentary, which explores the growth of a new musical creation while offering a look at the struggle to save the Apollo.