24/09/2024 - Unspooling 14 – 18 October in Rome, the international audiovisual market is returning with 60 works spanning animations, documentaries, series and fiction films

The MIA - the international audiovisual market promoted by ANICA (the Italian National Association of Film, Audiovisual and Digital Industries) and APA (the Italian Association of Audiovisual Producers), and directed for the third consecutive year by Gaia Tridente - is returning to Rome between 14 and 18 October to celebrate its tenth edition, which is set to unspool in the market’s long-time venues: Palazzo Barberini and Cinema Barberini.

Over 600 projects have been received for this year’s Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum, which marks a 20% rise on 2023 and a 12.5% increase in the number of participating countries. Of these works, roughly 60 will be presented at the event, spanning animations, documentaries, dramas (series-based offerings) and films.

The Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum has selected 15 projects hailing from 15 countries. Animated feature films on the agenda include The Little Prince of Shangri-La, which is the latest project aimed at the whole family, coming courtesy of Italian director Alessandro Rak (The Art of Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Rak
film profile]) and produced by Italy’s Mad Entertainment; Aya in the Desert by Spanish directors Julia Horrillo and Verónica Adell, co-produced by Spain, France and Latvia via Alhena Production, Les Films du Lezard and Rija Films, and dedicated to a thirteen-year-old girl from Ivory Coast who reached the shores of Cadice in a boat by pretending to be a boy; Bing Bang Parade (Belgium/Poland), which is an episodic film produced by Lunanime and directed by a range of talented and promising directors who have already made their name on the arthouse animation circuit, Nienke Deutz, Sine & Imge Özbilge, Karolien Raeymaekers, Hermien Verstraeten, Britt Raes and Martyna Koleniec; Twisted (Italy/France), which is the new project by Palomar Animation and Mediawan Kids & Family, curated and directed by Lino Di Salvo who has worked for Disney for over 15 years, and Gainsbourg: rue de Verneuil, produced by the multi-award-winning French firm Logical Pictures together with The Jokers Lab, written and directed by Gilles Cayatte, Daniela De Felice and Cyril Houplain, and dedicated to the life of the iconic singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. The TV Special selection for this year’s edition is With You (Italy), which heralds the arrival in the animation world of Pepito Produzioni, flanked artistically speaking by Panebarco studios. The TV series on the agenda include Moles (Germany/Ireland/Spain), which is the new serial project by Buzzin Bus Media directed by Salvador Simó; Café Automatica (Canada/Cyprus), directed by Jim Miller and Alexander Chernogorov, and produced by Rymanco Films; Happily Never After (Czech Republic/Germany), directed by Jon Rowe, Monika Dembinska, Dominik Grittner, Jakub Votýpka and Cecile Paysant on behalf of Helium Film, and Reynard Films, and Harmony (Belgium/France/Italy/Luxembourg), a series encompassing the adventure and mystery that comes with the transition to adulthood, produced by Fantabulous, Freaks Factory and Fabrique d'Images, and directed by Federico Milella.

The Doc Co-Production Market & Doc Pitching Forum will treat audiences to a 360-degree overview of reality by way of 14 projects - 9 of which have been produced or directed by women – hailing from 13 countries. Among these are Black Carbon-Native Science (Denmark/Germany/Norway/Canada), the docuseries Seveso, The Siege of Paradise (Ireland/Italy/Switzerland), Homesick (Denmark/South Korea), Crusade and Cross (Spain), The Discreet Charm of Forgery (Greece), Reborn – Perfect Love (Italy/Belgium), and Paper Porn (Italy).

For its part, the Drama Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present 2 Italian productions: A Family Reunion, produced by Cross Productions, and Uglycomics/Fumettibrutti, based upon Josephine Yole Signorelli’s graphic novel and produced by Bim Produzioni. Palmyra by Carol Mezher and Gabriela Flores, meanwhile, is a French-Lebanese co-production funded by the Doha Film Institute’s 2024 development grant. And from Ireland, we’ll see Yes!, which is produced by 925 Productions and written by Fran Harris; from the Netherland, The Night Watch, written by Steven Friedman and produced by Continent Studios; from Belgium, The Best Immigrant, produced by Caviar, and from Switzerland, Dolce Amelia, written by Petra Volpe and produced by Zodiac Pictures.

The Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum has selected 14 feature film projects hailing from 10 countries, 10 of which are first or second works: Borderline/Sur la Ligne (France) by Yves Piat, Braids (UK) by Juliet Ellis, Death in Your Eyes (Spain) by Guillermo de Oliveira, Pleasure (Belgium) by Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devillers, Fish (Italy) by Carlo S. Hintermann, Is This All of You? (Egypt) by Roshdy Ahmed, Midnight Inn (Taiwan) by Chun Hong Wang, Misgiving (Israel/Nigeria) by Eitan Anner, The Place of Eternal Summer (Italy) by Maddalena Ravagli, The Poet and the Blackbird (Italy) by Duccio Chiarini, and So The Lovers Could Come Out Again (Lebanon/Italy/UK/France) by George Peter Barbari.

Last but not least, MIA Stories is a shiny-new incubator programme for film and series projects. In collaboration with various established partners on the Italian and international markets, the fledging initiative will see this year’s MIA hosting pitching sessions, showcases and b2b meetings aimed at unveiling new content and intellectual property, with a view to facilitating the promotion and circulation of European talent and stories.

The full list of projects is here.

(Translated from Italian)