Hat-wearing Woody Allen films 'Bop Decameron' in Rome

Wearing a floppy fisherman's hat and his famous thick-framed glasses, Woody Allen has been cropping up in some of Rome's most famous tourist sights in recent days as he works on his latest production.

The crew for "Bop Decameron" has been spotted everywhere from the Spanish Steps to the Colosseum to Rome's main shopping avenue, Via del Corso, and paparazzi have been kept busy chasing stars Alec Baldwin and Penelope Cruz.

On Thursday there was some filming in a frescoed gallery of the French embassy, the famous Renaissance-era Palazzo Farnese in central Rome.

In Via del Corso and Piazza del Popolo on Wednesday, Allen could be seen instructing an actress on dropping her mobile phone in a street drain.

Cars streamed past and crew members instructed passers-by in the busy shopping area to keep walking and continue about their business as normal.

The cult US director has made a series of films in recent years shot in picturesque European cities including Barcelona, London and Paris.

"Bop Decameron" is a romantic comedy based on Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron - a famous 14th-century collection of bawdy tales.

The film features four intertwining Italian stories including one that will star Allen himself, and it is expected to come out next year.

In homage to Italian film master Federico Fellini, Allen has also been filming on Via Veneto - the main location of his classic La Dolce Vita.