To launch Milan as a cultural hub for documentary cinema”: this, in the words of the general director Francesco Bizzarri, is the objective pursued by Visioni dal mondo the international documentaries Festival which, next October, will hold its third edition in partnership with Unicredit that hosts the event in the Unicredit Pavilion.
The festival is “entirely dedicated to social films with a contemporary setting”, explains the artistic director Fabrizio Grosoli, with the vocation of “promoting Italian documentary cinema”.
In fact the festival event is anked by Visioni Incontra, two industry days realized in collaboration with the Lombardia Film Commission, which will involve the participation of television editors, cinema circuits, platforms, independent producers and distributors capable of supporting projects in the final development phase with financing, pre-purchases and distribution.
The close connection between the Festival and the industry days, where the pitching formula is used to present Italian projects that are already in the working phase, is confirmed by one of the awards, sponsored by Rai Cinema, which guarantees that the rights for the film winning the competition will be purchased by the Rai networks.
In fact the major critical points for documentaries in Italy regard distribution although, in terms of their circulation in movie theaters, “the trend is very positive”.
Confirmation of this comes from Wanted, created in Milan by Anastasia Plazzotta together with Gianluigi Valentini in 2014. Plazzotta started carrying out distribution experiments using the events formula: “We decided to target movie theaters in an unconventional way, also because we have learned that documentaries should be treated differently”.
Thus Plazzotta is also trying out the exhibitor experience and has launched her “alternative cinema” project on a Milan City Council civic crowdfunding platform, realizing a figure on the net that, doubled by Milan City Council, has reached €100,000.
The amount was used to pay for the technical equipment and the rental of a hall in an area which does not have many cinemas, the Spazio Tertulliano. “ The screenings started in December and cover every weekend and some week days”.
The main titles include “I am not your negro” and “Merci Patron!” by François Ruffin, the box office champion documentary in France, which will be premiered in Pordenone at the Le Voci dell’Inchiesta festival, where another three Wanted titles will also be presented: the film about flamenco “La Chana”, “China’s Van Gogh”, and “Tutti a casa-Power to the Peple?”, the film about the 5 Star Movement by Danish director Lise Birk Pedersen”.
