The most significant production expected to arouse the biggest international reaction in the short term is, obviously, “Pinocchio”: this is not just a world famous story but an international co-production which has seen Rai Fiction and Lux Vide work alongside British and German partners.
The international cast includes Bob Hoskins and Luciana Littizzetto, Volante Placido and Joss Ackland, Margherita Buy and Alessandro Gassman, Thomas Sangster and Robbie Kay.
Rai Fiction will be looking for foreign partners for a series of projects at MipTv in Cannes.
These include “La mia casa è piena di specchi”, a biopic about the three women in the Scicolone family, Maria, Sofia and their mother Romilda Villani, based on the novel by Maria, in which Sofia Loren will play Romilda.
An agreement with Beta Film and the Austrian Orf has made it possible for Publispei, in co-production with the Rai, to choose the star of “Sissi”, Cristiana Capotondi, who will be starring as the future queen of Austria, a role previously played by Romy Schneider in a number of movies.
The director will be German: possibly Robert Dornhelm, but nothing definite has been announced yet.
The 4 episode miniseries “Le cose che restano” will have a French director: the sequel to “La meglio gioventù”, also written by Rulli and Petraglia and produced by Angelo Barbagallo, will be directed this time by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli.
The cast includes Paola Cortellesi and Claudio Santamaria.
Other productions looking for partners in Cannes are the biopics “Caruso” (produced by Claudia Mori’s Ciao Ragazzi) and “Trio Lescano” (Luca Barbareschi’s Casanova).
Another biopic, “Pius XII”, still has a long way to go (Jewish hostility makes telling the story of this Pope’s war years particularly sensitive), whilst “Mattei” with Massimo Ghini (we should be seeing him in May) and “Basaglia” with Fabrizio Gifuni and Vittoria Puccini, are ready. These are all two-episode 100 minute miniseries, whereas “Mi ricordo di Anna Frank”, based on the diary of her friend who survived the Holocaust and remembers her playmate, will be a TV movie, directed by Alberto Negrin, perfect for Holocaust Memorial Day.
MIPTV 2/RAI TRADE PRESENTS LAZIO
With a stand layout inspired by dramas filmed in the Lazio region, Rai Trade will be bringing its tried and tested formula back to Mip TV, with an increasing focus on its synergetic relationship with the territory: at the last Mipcom, it was Sicily and Montalbano, this year it is Lazio and its stories.
The series “Looking back” is about an Italian family which, in the 1960s, goes through life-changing experiences as the village they live in is transformed; there is also a six episode series, “General Hospital”, and “Augustine”, the last episode in the “Imperium” series.
Rai Trade will also be presenting two documentaries at the international market: “Business in Lazio” and “Lazio and water”, available in eight languages.
MIPTV 3/ ITALIAN PAVILLION
Another well-tested formula will be returning to Mip 2009: the Italian Pavilion organized by the exporters’ association UNEFA, the Television Producers’ Association (APT), and the Italian Foreign Trade Commission (ICE).
The partnership was inaugurated at the last Mipcom.
The area will feature 13 stands occupied by the same number of companies, curated by APT and UNEFA (Adriana Chiesa Enterprise, Cartoon One, Filmexport Group, Ga&A, Gruppo Alcuni, Intramovies, Lux Vide, Minerva Pictures, Movie Time, Publispei, RomeFictionFest, Surf Film and Variety Communications), as well as an open space managed by the ICE, where 44 Italian audiovisual companies will be present.
