Comment on Cinecitta studios in Rome in danger as film producers look to eastern Europe

Film lot loved by Federico Fellini – which gave the world La Dolce Vita, Roman Holiday and Ben-Hur – fights for its futureSumming up its effect on his creative juices, the Italian film director Federico Fellini described Rome's Cinecitta studios as "my ideal world, the cosmic space before the big bang".But the legendary 40-hectare (100-acre) lot built by Mussolini, which became a home from home for Hollywood stars in the 1950s and 60s, is now fighting for its future.With productions heading east to cheaper locations such as Hungary, the studio where the classics Ben-Hur and Roman Holiday – and more recently Gangs of New York – were shot has seen its earnings shrink.It is now pinning its hopes for income on an amusement park, hotel and spa being built on the site where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor smooched while shooting Cleopatra in 1963.Times have also changed in the centre of Rome.