Piccolo Cinema shows kids' movies in Trastevere.

Children in Rome can look forward to free animated movies screened on Friday afternoons over eight weeks thanks to the organisers behind Piccolo America.

The Piccolo Cinema initiative runs from 22 February until 12 April at the Regina Margherita school on Via Madonna dell'Orto 2, in the Trastevere neighbourhood in which Piccolo America hosts its hugely popular film festival each summer.

"Once we realised that many children were discovering the cinema in the S. Cosimato arena" - explains Piccolo America president Valerio Carocci  - "we understood that the solution to [counteract] the absence of people in cinemas was to bring the films not just into the piazze but also into schools. "

The animated film festival, which has the support of the Lazio Region, begins on Friday 22 February at 16.45 with Shark Tale. The screenings continue at the same time on the subsequent seven Fridays.

The next appointment will be 1 March with Pollicina, then Rio on 8 March, Megamind on 15 March, Il principe d’Egitto on 22 March, La strada per El Dorado on 29 March, Sinbad on 5 April and finishing with I Croods on 12 April.

The films will be screened in Italian and admission is free.