The map of MIA is a complex one, crisscrossed by independent routes which subse- quently intersect with each other.
This is one of the main innovations of the new Rome market that will accompany the Rome Film Fest from October 16 – 20: the mustering of the various segments of the audiovisual industry and their variable convergences.
Cinema, TV series, documentaries (as well as animation and gaming) all within a single receptacle with the common objective of increasing the internationalization of the audiovisual sector.
It is no coincidence that the new Market, which has a budget of nearly 2 million Euros, is produced by Anica, Apt, Doc/it and Fondazione Cinema per Roma with the support of the Mise (Ministry of Economic Development) and Ice – Italian Trade Agency.

The key words are business and networking, “an enduring combination”, the director, Lucia Milazzotto, explains to Cinema & Video on the eve of MIA, “because without relationships there is no business, and we will work in parallel on the content and construction of a network of international players with a particular eye on co-productions”.
For five days almost one thousand accredited visitors from 53 countries will orbit around the area of Piazza della Repubblica, between the Terme di Diocleziano- Baths of Diocletian (co- production sessions and networking activities) and the Hotel Boscolo Exedra (conferences and meetings), whilst the screenings will be hosted at the Quattro Fontane cinema and The Space Cinema Moderno.
“A strong sign,” according to Milazzotto, “of the interest aroused by this event which intends to become a strategic moment in the diary of the members of the trade who will be flying to Rome from all over the world, with a clear predominance of Europeans”.

On the cinema front, MIA is being revamped, the matchmaking element and product proposals are receiving a boost based on the experiences of The Business Street and the New Cinema Network.
On the one side there are the sales activities of TBS which, this year, is proposing over 90 titles (around twenty of which are of Italian origin) with 35 market premieres.
On the other side there is the NCN co-production forum which will present a selection of 30 projects (in the development phase) by up-and-coming or established filmmakers from 20 different countries.
Five Italian titles have been selected for this edition, from the new work by the now acknowledged director from Palermo, Costanza Quatriglio (“Sembra mio figlio”) to the work by scriptwriter and filmmaker Elisa Amoruso (“La dea delle acque calme”), to the unusual female western set in the 19th century by Giovanni La Parola (“Il mio corpo vi seppellirà-My body will bury you”) to the story of food and redemption that revolves around “Palato assoluto” by Francesco Falaschi, to the project by the 24 year old from Rome Fulvio Risuleo (“Guarda in alto”), already an award winner at Cannes with his shorts.

An offshoot of the NCN making its debut is the Make it With Italy Selection, a specific forum created to act as an incentive for minority co-productions with Italy, that proposes 6 projects of international interest from Argentina, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Iran, Ireland and France.

Brand-new – and probably the first step in the announced merger between the two traditional Rome events, the Rome Film Fest and the RomaFictionFest which, in its early years launched the first TV market experience – is TV Days, dedicated to networking for television series.
60 international players, selected from the TV Drama sphere, will be in Rome for three days (October 17-19) in order to build new strategic relationships and reflect on current trends and future business scenarios.
The calendar features meetings, talks, round tables and pre- mieres organized in a series of themed macro-areas (the economic models of stories that “have legs”, the new “digital challenge”, co-productions and distribution, European talent, animation, transmedia and gaming) around which the various events will be structured.

On the documentary front, MIA will be hosting the eleventh edition of Italian Doc Screenings, the international forum-showcase for Italian documentaries (represented by a selection of 20 projects) produced by Doc/it, and the second edition of Doc&Factual Agora (October 16-18), the international event dedicated to doc & factual television programs that will focus on the global broadcasters who have conquered the world’s schedules and, amongst other things, the Public Service’s role as a cultural enterprise which will be the subject of a specific meeting as part of the MIA Talks to be held at the Baths of Diocletian.

But how will the various sections intersect with each other? “It will be possible to cross the MIA map in various directions”, says Lucia Milazzotto, “and its strength will lie in the fact that every- one can create their own route. Having said that, there will also be a number of convergences.
On the one hand, there are the intersecting cinema and TV events, in some regards a common market, as the industrial trend appears to indicate; on the other hand there are the natural junctions between the two documentary areas, doc and factual.
We will be dedicating the opening day, Friday October 16, to Italian and international animation – a genre that crosses various business models – and gaming, sounding out the reciprocal influences, whereas on Sunday October 18, members of the trade will meet to discuss the supply of content on digital platforms. Another across-the-board event will be the day dedicated to Italy on Saturday October 17, an opportunity to consider the country’s economic, financial and production opportunities, which will bring together national members of the trade and European/world players.
The Italian industry has already responded positively during the preparation of the market with the direct involvement of sector operators and trade associations. The general viewpoint is that we should work on the internationalization of the product which means boosting exports and developing co-productions”.