The Fendi fashion house has warned
Roma Pride, organisers of Rome's Gay Pride march this Saturday,
against using its HQ, the city's iconic Fascist-era 'Square
Colosseum' in the EUR district, for publicity shots.
The Mario Mieli association, among the top organisers of
the event, said it was "incredulous" to receive the legal
warning from the Maison Fendi and recalled that the fashion
house had joined in gay rights events in the past.
The Maison Fendi said it was protecting its copyright over
the building, whose actual name is the Palazzo of Italian
Civilisation, because it funded its recent costly restoration.
The Palazzo of Italian Civilisation, also known as the
Palazzo of the Civilisation of Labour, was designed in 1937 to
host the Exhibition of Roman Civilisation during the planned
1942 World Fair, which was scrapped because of WWII.
Because of its bold appearance and iconic status, the
building has appeared in a number of films, including: Rome,
Open City (1945); Boccaccio '70 (1962); The Last Man on Earth
(1964) with Vincent Price; The Belly of an Architect (1987) by
Peter Greenaway; Hudson Hawk (1991) with Bruce Willis; Titus
(1999) by Julie Taymor, with Anthony Hopkins; Equilibrium (2001)
with Christian Bale; and the recent Zoolander 2
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