Davide Abbatescianni

This week Rome’s MIA market hosted a talk with award-winning producer and president of Imagine Documentaries, Sara Bernstein. The conversation, moderated by MIA Director Gaia Tridente, covered a number of topics including the exec’s illustrious career, Imagine’s latest slate of productions and global trends concerning non-fiction consumption.

The creative team behind Hot Spot were unable to attend MIA following the horrific outbreak of hostilities in Israel and Gaza and therefore pitched their coming-of-age project remotely. The project, produced by Tel Aviv-based Ananey Studio and set over the course of five years, comprises “an intimate coming-of-age journey featuring a remarkable group of international students, some from enemy nations.”

Ilona is the story of the life of Cicciolina, the only porn star in the world – to date – who has gained a seat in a Parliament. The new biographic documentary, directed by Alessandro Galluzzi and produced by Chiara Salvo of Italian outfit Scarlet, “aims to “highlight the link between sex and politics, and the relationship of porn with the counterculture in the years of protest,” the filmmakers say.

At MIA 2023, award winning Armenian producer and frontline filmmaker Vardan Hovhannisyan pitched his new doc about famed archaeologist Khaled Al-Asaad who was brutally murdered by ISIS in the historical site of Palmyra, after dedicating his life to preserving its ancient ruins. The creative team labels the doc as “a story of hope and rebirth in a war-torn land, where the spirit of Palmyra lives on.”

At MIA 2023, the creative team behind Italian outfit B&B Film are pitching their new non-fiction project, titled Achille Lauro – The Terror Cruise. The docuseries explores “one of the most tragic operations of international terrorism,” through “the direct testimonies of the protagonists who lived through the hours of the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, and the subsequent Sigonella diplomatic crisis.”

Luca Rea’s new documentary tells a tale of mischief that may just have led to murder, all set within the high-end art world and along the canals of Livorno. “The Modigliani Affaire is an investigative documentary, a cold case that tells the incredible story of a prank that got out of hand,” the Fandango team behind the film tell Business Doc Europe.

As a film subject, there’s nobody quite like Jesus, and Norbert Busè’s new doc project suggests that each new generation needs a new cinematic Messiah. “Famous directors such as Pier Paulo Pasolini, Jean-Luc Godard and Martin Scorsese have brought him before the camera. No life has been filmed as often as his. The Jesus film adaptations are very diverse and always a reflection of their time,” the director tells BDE.

Three brothers wish to honour their dying father by fulfilling his dream. But there’s one major snag, the dream is insane, and entails crossing the Atlantic Ocean on two floating cars without any sailing experience. This is the premise of Jesus Garcès Lambert’s new documentary feature project Ocean Drive, pitched at MIA 2023 and produced by industry veteran Alessandro Lostia for Rome-based Indigo Stories.

During the busy days of Nordisk Panorama Forum 2023, Business Doc Europe caught up with Klara Nilsson Grunning, a commissioner at the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) and one of the body’s decision-makers for documentary features, international co-productions, series and digital storytelling.

Life is Beautiful is the story of a life put on hold by international politics and rigid bureaucracy. The project, helmed by Mohamed Jabaly and based on his own experience of displacement, is being produced by Kristine Ann Skaret for Oslo-based Stray Dogs Norway. Business Doc Europe spoke to Skaret about the documentary, its urgency and its aims.