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INDUSTRY Italy

Industry professionals gather at the 4th Milan Documentary Film Festival

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- Three panels were organised as part of the Visioni Incontra industry section in order to take stock of digital offerings, the contribution of Film Commissions and the role of women in the media

Industry professionals gather at the 4th Milan Documentary Film Festival
Silvia Della Sala, writer of Res Creata's screenplay, Cinzia Masòtina, Visioni Incontra coordinator, Alessandro Cattaneo, Res Creata’s director, Francesco Bizzarri, Director of the Visioni dal Mondo Festival and Michaela Guenzi, Lombardy Film Commission

Res creata [+see also:
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film profile
]
by Alessandro Cattaneo won the Visioni Incontra Award for Best 2018 Documentary Project at Milan’s International Visioni dal Mondo Documentary Festival - Immagini dalla Realtà, while Trembling Crystals [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Alessandro Focareta, L’ora d’acqua by Claudia Cipriani and Strange Fish by Giulia Bertoluzzi all scooped up awards in the Contemporary World Stories competition. Cineuropa reports on the three panels organised by the Visioni Incontraca industry section, co-ordinated by Cinzia Masòtina.

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The panel entitled "The alliance between physical and digital mediums and the management of the new market paradigm" was aimed at generating a discussion between producers, directors and Giorgio Tacchia, the founder and CEO of Chili – the first platform to develop an "entertainment-focused marketplace.” Tacchia explained that in addition to the possibility to rent or buy video content to watch on any device with no need for a subscription (including in HD) – with initial screenings in the first distribution window, months before paid TV content becomes available – Chili also offers information and reviews on film premieres, a ticket and geo-localised cinema booking service, the chance to buy original merchandise of favourite characters and film-inspired gadgets. A different offering altogether compared to TVOD platform competitors such as Google Play and iTunes. "Our core business relies on the way in which products are presented to our users, with a quality editorial approach, putting the character at the heart of the strategy in order to create a community." Following its success in Italy, Chili has also extended its network to Austria, Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom, and also counts five major players among its shareholders: Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Viacom and Warner Bros.

Giorgio Tacchia also suggested that producers build a "journey" within their creative idea – including for documentaries – by using “viral” methods. "The documentary KSI: Can't Lose crashed our Chili UK platform after a post on Sony's Instagram page." Last June, Chili and Magnitudo, a film production company specialising in art films, announced a partnership to bring quality documentaries to the platform.

The panel entitled "The film commission’s role: between regional vocation and national coordination, between business and culture. A potential pact?" saw the participation of some of Italy’s most important film commissions. The president of the Italian Film Commissions Association, Stefania Ippoliti, stressed that the new Italian Cinema Law would allow individuals to rely on a series of loans flanked by individual regional investment funds, with FCs tasked with internationalising audiovisual products and simplifying bureaucracy, as well as strengthening the relationship between the state and the various regions. An argument that was also touched upon by Bruno Zambardino, European Affairs Manager for MIBAC Cinema, who announced an operational coordination meeting to bring legislation into harmony with local policies and to promote national cinema abroad. An important international image vehicle for Italy is the https://www.italyformovies.it/ portal, which includes a database of cinematic locations and itineraries.

Lombardy Region's Autonomy and Culture Councillor, Stefano Bruno Galli, promised the relaunch of Lombardy Film Commission and intends to ask Italy's central government for autonomy regarding public financial resources for the audiovisual sector, while Luca Ferrario from Trentino Film Commission reflected on the FCs search for an identityand whether or not to move to a local level or to develop an attractive front with large foreign productions. The director of Apulia Film Commission, Maurizio Sciarra, suggested a wider European perspective of the audiovisual system, stating that the battle lies between Europe and major international operators. "The audiovisual sector has an international vocation, its presence abroad must be planned and coordinated together, both by the ministries and other parties involved." Francesca Cima, president of ANICA,stressed that the audiovisual sector is doing well on a global level, but raised the alarm regarding the data provided by MIBAC that shows a fall in average investments, which affects product quality. "The region, and regional funds, play a fundamental role."

The last panel was entitled “Women-focused professionalism, talent and networking. For the democratisation of the audiovisual sector beyond gender," and was hosted in collaboration with WIFTM (Women in Film, TV & Media Italia), founded in April, which debated with participating professionals. Kissy Dugan, president of WIFTM Italia and Margherita Chiti, vice president, illustrated its Italian division's initiatives. The organisation was originally founded in the United States in 1973 and now boasts more than 14,000 members worldwide. WIFTM is a non-profit organisation open to all male and female professionals in the media and audiovisual industries who care about the role of women in media and entertainment. WIFTM intends to support the professional development and representation of women in the media and audiovisual industries, to promote equal employment opportunities and to protect the interests of professionals in the sector. Following success at Cannes and Locarno, Dissenso Comune and WIFTM got the Biennale's signature forits "Charter for equality and inclusion at film, audiovisual and animation festivals" promoted by the international movement 50/50 by 2020. The Biennale will organise an annual seminar during the event in order to further its analysis of data on female employment. "We will also be meeting with other festivals to further extend the agreement," stated Kissy Dugan, "upcoming events include the MIA - Rome International Audiovisual Market in October and Far East Film in Udine. We want to tell women's stories in order to change people’s mentality, to create a "think tank project", and to organise networking meetings in order to get to know each other better."WIFTM will be directly dealing with training in schools in order to overcome the gap between training and entry into the world of work.

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(Translated from Italian)

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