Almost € 5 million for Cinema, half of which destined for production: the new three year term (2018 – 2020) of the Emilia-Romagna Film Commission opens with an increase for the Emilia-Romagna Audiovisuals Fund.
The open calls will be published at the end of February, of which four are planned: one dedicated to national and international projects, divided into two windows.
There is also a double window for the call directed towards Emilia-Romagna’s productions.
The third is destined for the development of theatrical and audiovisual works.
The fourth is for the organization of festivals and shows in the theatrical field.

The increase in the fund follows the excellent results of the first three years of activity during which 93 projects were funded out of the 288 presented for a total of € 4,268,515.
“A spin-off of almost four euros was produced for every euro invested in the region, with an overall volume of € 40 million of expenditure. We wanted to demonstrate that investing in culture can produce wealth and that is what happened thanks to the synergy between departments created by Law no. 20”, says the head of the regional department for Culture, Massimo Mezzetti.

The publication of the cinema.emiliaromagnacreativa.it regional portal has made it possible to develop a clear and well-developed Production Guide, a databank of regional professionals and workers which currently has around 450 members and is now being further implemented as the head of the Film Commission, Fabio Abagnato points out, illustrating the guidelines that include the additional valorization of the role of the structure with an extension of the services regarding the differentiation of locations and assistance to productions, consolidating an already successfully launched network of relationships in the region.
In this regard, providing support for scouting activities is proving particularly interesting with the Rome-based production company, La Scala Cinematografica, recently being guided around the Bologna area for a feature-length project and two British visitors being shown around Novellara (the writer Satinder Chohan in partnership with Goldy Notay, and the production company In front film) who are involved in two different projects focusing on the Sikh communities of the Bassa Reggiana area.

While waiting for the new open calls, during the Berlinale it will be possible to visit the exhibition entitled
Emilia-Romagna, terra di cineasti [Land of filmmakers], hosted from 26 January to 23 February at the Italian Cultural Institute of Berlin, the layout of which is curated by the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna.
The exhibition, realized in collaboration with the Regional government, will feature the great film- makers and the innovations that have contributed to making the region’s culture and theatrical production international.