MIA 24

Three weeks after its liberation from Russian forces, respected Italian war journalist Francesca Mannocchi navigates the devastated streets of Bucha, a city symbolic of the horrors of war. “The documentary reflects on suffering, resilience, and the power of storytelling, placing humanity at the centre of the ruins of conflict,” reveals the Ukrainian Whispers team.

The Paris-based producer/distributor took to the stage at the 10th MIA to discuss contemporary non-fiction storytelling and ZED’s rich slate of projects, as well as the business of doc. “By producing films, you don’t make a lot of money, but by distributing them, you can. Working on both production and distribution allowed me to balance my cash flow and made my business sustainable. That’s why I’m here today,” Catteau told Head of Doc & Factual,

“There are events in the history of Italy that mark a before and after. Because they shape History. And, because of them, the world will never be the same,” reads the beginning of the MIA project synopsis of Seveso – The Italian Chernobyl. At MIA 2024, Business Doc Europe caught up with the Fandango team to unpack the 4x50-minute documentary series about the notorious 1976 Seveso disaster, an industrial accident that occurred in a small chemical manufacturing plant.

The Greek-Italian co-pro The Discreet Charm of Forgery by Dimitris Gotsis is a 5x30-minute investigative documentary series delving into the complex world of art forgery, where the lines between authenticity and deception blur. Ioanna Davi, from Chania-based firm Indigo View, is producing the project with Claudio Esposito, of Rome and Bari-based outfit The Piranesi Experience. Davi talks deception with BDE.

At MIA 2024, Business Doc Europe caught up with Vincenzo Filippo of Lupin Films, one of the producers involved in the making of Reborn – Perfect Love, helmed by Giovanni Conte and Francesco Pascucci, currently in development. The project concerns ‘reborn’ dolls that closely resemble children. “They exist for one purpose: to allow the women who cradle them to fill a void that work, a husband, or [their own] children cannot fill.”

The tenth MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo, 14-18 October) offers up 15 new International projects in the Doc Co-Production Pitching Forum as well as ten ‘Italians Doc it Better’ projects which are either complete or in post-production. The Rome market also presents a series of debates, talks and keynotes on a range of doc-related matters. These include a session with Oscar-winning Odessa Rae, the producer responsible for Navalny and Hollywoodgate. MIA’s doc maestro Marco Spagnoli fills in BDE on what to expect.

Organisers announced 18 September the documentary programme of the tenth (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo) which runs October 14-18 in Rome. The MIA market was launched in 2015, organized by ANICA (Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Digitali) and APA (Associazione Produttori Audiovisivi).

The International Factual Forum enables TV or digital content producers to present and promote their ideas for factual formats and programs to potential stakeholders at MIA (October 14-18 2024). Italians Doc It Better is an initiative aimed at presenting Italian documentaries in post-production, or documentaries completed but not yet released outside Italy.