16/10/2023 - This year’s market ended on a high note, with record levels of attendance and coverage, and over 80 panels and events taking place over the course of five days

It’s a wrap for the ninth edition of Rome’s MIA Mercato Internazionale dell’Audiovisivo, headed up by Gaia Tridente and unspooling this year at Palazzo Barberini, Cinema Barberini and online from 9-13 October.

The 2023 event saw a significant increase in the number of industry reps in attendance, with 2,600 participants (as against 2,400 last year) from 66 countries around the world (10% more countries than in 2022), a strengthened social-media presence (+14% followers on Facebook, +30% on LinkedIn) and a higher number of press covering the event (190 journalists, up 19% on 2022’s figures). Overall, MIA hosted 80 panels and events, five content showcases, four pitching forums and the unveiling of the new Tech Pavilion, as well as 60 market screenings and film presentations.

During the final day, the winners of the MIA awards were announced. Among this year’s victors was Non Issue (Israel), a dramedy created by Gal Rosenbluth and Nayef Hammoud, and produced by Efrat Dror for Herzelia Studios. The project, which tells the story of an Israeli-Palestinian couple, scooped the Paramount+ Award, bestowed upon the best Drama Pitching Forum project. “As a dramedy, the project balances humour and emotion in a compelling way, with a diverse mix of characters, whilst impactfully exploring the political context that underpins the central characters’ conflict and the catalyst that drives their story. This touching series mixes the classic tale of Romeo & Juliet with gripping contemporary dramas, such as Unorthodox [+see also:
series review
series profile], and we feel it is a story that will resonate with a broad audience,” said the jurors.

Next, Tuscany Film Studios awarded two prizes. The Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum Tuscany Film Studios Award (an in-kind prize given to the best Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum project) was snagged by Nursen Çetin Köreken’s A Story of Three Girls (Turkey), which tackles the titular protagonists, facing abuse and social constraints as they struggle to assert their identities in the complex reality of today’s Turkey.

The Wanna Taste IT? Tuscany Film Studios Award (an in-kind prize given to the best project in the Wanna Taste IT? section, dedicated to Italian film projects in development) went to Tommaso Pitta’s Jazz Suite for a Dysfunctional Family (Italy), which explores “a disastrous and surprising week in the lives of three half-siblings”.

The two Carlo Bixio Awards, backed by RAI, APA and RTI, and aimed at young auteurs under 30 “who are asked to submit a serial project without genre limits, respecting the values of novelty, originality, creativity and internationalisation, of which the award has always been a promoter”, went to the Italian projects Obbligo o verità? by Chiara Milana (Best Screenplay) and Lasciami by Rebecca Gatti, Diletta Dan and Enrica Polemio (Best Series Concept).

Finally, the WIFTMI Award, granted by Women in Film, Television and Media Italia - WIFTMI to an Italian scripted project selected as part of the Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum, across all three of the Animation, Drama and Film divisions, “which has the greatest potential for achievement based on criteria related to the elimination of gender inequality, positive and balanced representation, diversity and inclusion”, went to Halyu - Korean Wave, an Italian-French co-production centred on the fictional story of the first Western K-pop band.

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

Alessandro D’Alatri EDI MIA Visionary Award (ex aequo)
Costa Armonia – Lefteris Charitos, Amanda Livanou, Peter Carlton
Producers: Neda Film (Greece), Warp Films (UK)

Anthology – Nicolas Saada
Producer: The Project (France)

Special Mention
Kanun – Ariens Damsi, Giulio Rizzo
Producer: ElioFilm (Italy)

Paramount+ Award
Non Issue - Gal Rosenbluth and Nayef Hammoud
Producer: Herzelia Studios (Israel)

Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum Tuscany Film Studios Award
A Story of Three Girls – Nursen Çetin Köreken
Producer: Drama Yapin Film Medya (Turkey)

Wanna Taste IT? Tuscany Film Studios Award
Jazz Suite for a Dysfunctional Family – Tommaso Pitta
Producer: DUDE Originals (Italy)

GEDI Visual Award
Broken Dream – Jacopo De Bertoldi
Producer: NANOF (Italy)

Screen International Award
Bluish - Lilith Kraxner, Milena Czernovsky
Producer: Panama Film (Austria)

Toon Boom Awards
Motherhood – Anca Damian
Producer: Aparte Film (Romania)

Ro - Magdalena Osińska
Producers: ANIMOON (Poland), Les Films du Cygne (France)

Taste Buddies - Veronica Lassenius
Producer: Pikkukala Barcelona (Spain)

WIFTMI Award
Hallyu - Korean Wave – Michele Furfari, Gaia Marianna Musacchio, Giulio Nocerino
Producers: Volos Films Italia (Italy), 24images Production (France), Revolver (Italy)

Carlo Bixio Award for Best Screenplay
Obbligo o verità? – Chiara Milana (Italy)

Carlo Bixio Award for Best Series Concept
Lasciami - Rebecca Gatti, Diletta Dan, Enrica Polemio (Italy)

SIAE Idea d'autore Award (ex aequo)
Il masso degli orchi – Diego Pelizza (Italy)
Barriera - Raffael Fiano, Antonio Dal Mas (Italy)