The Apulia Film Commission heads two important international cooperation projects launched in April this year which end in 2020: CIAK, with the participation of Italy and Greece, the objective of which is to promote the areas involved through transnational initiatives linked to the cinema and audiovisual sector, and CIRCE, which tackles a challenge common to the regions involved in the INTERREG IPA CBC program Italy – Albania – Montenegro: to modernize the production system by investing in the cultural and creative industry as a strategic resource for stimulating the economic progress of the regions concerned.
More specifically, the most significant activities of the CIAK project, to which resources totaling around € 540,000 have been assigned, include the pilot action “Memoria” with the production of ten shorts about the shared history between Italy and Greece; a traveling screenwriting workshop “Greece – Puglia Experience” with location scouting activities and the creation of a network of festivals in the program area.
The main output of CIRCE will be: 1) a joint trans-border production platform that will allow audiovisual operators on both sides to collaborate on the co-production of a TV web series; 2) the establishment of a network between the theatrical festivals in the area; 3) a structured cooperation between the policy makers of the regions involved also through the exchange of good practices and 4) the strengthening of the digital expertise of businesses in the audiovisual sector.
In the case of CIRCE, the trans-border cooperation constitutes an added value as it makes it possible to draw from a much broader pool of natural, cultural and human resources than is normally available in each country. Therefore the project creates the conditions for setting up a trans-border creative cluster, uniting the audiovisual industries of Albania, Montenegro, Molise and Apulia and developing new policies for the sector seen as a regular driver of innovation.