On 13 October, the final day of MIA 2023, Cinema Barberini hosted a panel titled Theatrical Documentaries at the Box Office: New Films for New Audiences. The 45-minute discussion, moderated by MIA Head of Doc Marco Spagnoli, revolved around the reception of theatrical documentaries at the Italian box office and their untapped potential.
First, Spagnoli invited Giorgio Bigoni, of Cinetel, to talk through the body’s activities and the latest box office figures recorded by docs between 2022 and 2023. Bigoni explained that Cinetel has been monitoring the country’s box office since 1995. Today, Cinetel covers the activities of 95% of Italian theatres. Throughout the year, the organisation delivers over 100 different reports aimed at exhibitors, distributors, producers and institutions, along with daily, weekly and monthly updates. Data are provided via Cinetel’s official website and its new portal, Cinetelpro.
In 2022, theatrical documentaries generated €6.6 million in box office revenues and recorded 995.000 admissions (2.2% of the Italy’s overall cinemagoing activity, the highest figure since 2010). Compared to the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019, the revenues are 11.2% smaller, but admission grew by 2.5%.
While popular genres such as fantasy, animation and comedy attract over 60% of the audience, docs are still more appealing than sci-fi (1.3%) and musicals (0.6%) and just less than 400.000 admissions short from horror (1.350.000 admissions).
In Italy, 155 docs were released last year, accounting for the 24.3% of the total number of releases. Of these, 117 were Italian productions (accounting for 36.3% of all Italian films), and each was hitting 61 cinemas on average. Zooming in on detail, 108 were screened in less than 50 theatres, 47 in more than 50. Event releases generated about 39% of the overall BO revenues, accounting for 34% of the admissions. 26% of the docs were distributed through event releases which, more often than not, proved to be a more profitable distribution approach. The average revenue from event releases is slightly above €65,000 (with an average of 8.500 admissions), whilst traditional releases gross €37,000 and attract little less than 6,000 admissions.
Bigoni, however, warned that the 2022 figures must be put into context as last year saw the release of Giuseppe Tornatore’s hit Ennio, which grossed about €2.8 million and has been the fourth most successful doc of all time at the Italian box office. Tornatore’s touching feature about the late composer and conductor was released in the first two months of 2022, right after the rise of the Omicron Covid variant, while exhibitors and distributors were dealing with backlog issues and benefited from a weekend of previews involving some 400 theatres. Thus, Ennio ended up grossing about 40% of the aforementioned €6.6 million. “If you look at 2017-2019 figures concerning event screenings, these were generating over 70% of the doc-related box office,” Bigoni points out.
In 2022, other top doc titles were Moonage Daydream (€508,000), Stavamo bene insieme (€294,000), The Velvet Queen(€190.000), Nel nostro cielo un rombo di tuono (188,000) and Franco Battiato – La Voce del Padrone (€188,000) – notably, with the exception of The Velvet Queen all of these are either music or sports-theme docs.
Speaking about 2023, Bigoni highlighted that there are no titles which grossed above €600,000 so far, even though things might still change. In comparison with 2022, the BO revenues are -24% smaller and admissions are -21% less. Meanwhile, event releases generated 45% of the doc-related BO revenues.
Bigoni compared these figures with those of other European countries. Until September 2023, the French doc box office performed three times better than the Italian one (1.4 million admissions vs. 467,000 in Italy). Germany recorded 807,000 admissions, whist Spain only 259,000. Top 2023 titles are Mario Martone’s doc on late actor and comedian Massimo Troisi – Laggiù qualcuno mi ama (77,000 admissions), Charlie Lightening’s music doc Louise Thomlinson: All of Those Voices (27,000 admissions) and Giovanni Troilo’s art doc Borromini e Bernini: Sfida alla perfezione (24,000 admissions).
Next, the mic was handed to Paolo Orlando, of Medusa. Spagnoli asked him why the Italian giant, known for its focus on commercial titles including Christmas comedies, decided to venture into documentary. Orlando stated there has always been a market for docs, “even before the Armageddon [ie the pandemic].” “What pushed us to enter this segment before the industry would recover [is that] we thought the first audiences going back to theatres was that looking for high quality, who goes in particular to theatres in urban areas. We realised there was an opportunity to engage this audience,” he says, touching upon Medusa’s work on Maria Martone’s documentary about Massimo Troisi and how the pandemic has prompted some shifts in audience taste that couldn’t be ignored.
Distributor Andrea Romeo, of I Wonder, sounded less enthusiastic about these figures. “Hits like Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Whale pay the bills, as docs are still unable to do so. It’s inevitable since a picture that wins the Golden Lion [referring to All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, also distributed by I Wonder] doesn’t even get a slot on our public broadcaster’s networks.”
“There’s no habit to ‘consume’ docs on generalist TV, and no favourable conditions for documentaries [in general]. We get much support for Italian titles and this allows us to screen films like La timidezza delle chiome, which has been very successful at the David di Donatello (Italian Oscar equivalents) and is still in theatres after ten months. The strength of docs that aren’t filmed concerts or events but more of creative, author-driven pieces is unsustainable for international titles, but more for the Italian ones. Luckily, Poitras’ film won the Golden Lion which helped us to gross at least €100,000.”
Claudia Rodríguez Valencia, of Colombia’s Preciosa Media, explained that Latin American distributors and exhibitors don’t put much effort into bringing international documentaries to theatres. Something is changing though, and Chile seems the most promising industry in terms of both production and cinemagoing. For example, Maite Alberdi’s latest doc The Eternal Memory grossed over $100,000, a huge figure for a Latin American documentary.
Gabriele Genuino, of RAI Cinema, underscored that there was steady growth for the sector from 2010 to 2019, and that now things are looking up. “This doesn’t mean everything is going well, but it’s still interesting [to know these figures] as they give us something to work on.”
Enrico Bufalini, of Italy’s Creative Europe Desk and Cinecittà, claimed that “there’s one market but two categories of productions.” The first is made up of “high-budget, ambitious projects like the Troisi-focused doc” and the second includes low-budget titles, much harder to sell and distribute. Thus, “few titles grossing significantly end up feeding the market.” Bufalini, who is very familiar with the second category, stressed on the importance of these “creative, at times experimental” documentaries as they “nurture young talents who may later embark on bigger projects.” He also admitted how relationships with festivals are quite effective for these films, but it’s still highly problematic to gain the same traction in theatres after being shown at event screenings or in front of a ‘crowded square.”
Red Carpet producers Elisa Bronzetti and Fabrizio Carratù touched upon their successful football doc Stavamo bene insieme, the second-best performing non-fiction title in 2022. “[Bringing it to theatres] was more of a bet. After producing it, we realised we had a jewel of a film. […] We spoke to DAZN and NEXO, and the idea was to convey the passion we’ve put into making it, and that of the players involved,” Carratù revealed. Bronzetti suggested that it’s all about “intercepting the right segment, in this case the older and younger supporters of AC Milan.”
Finally, Vivo Film’s Gregorio Paonessa, argued that the Cinetel figures may be “a great encouragement.” “I’m also a publisher. In a library, I’m not just happy to find a pile of best sellers next to the entrance, but I wish to find the copy of a small catalogue book as well. When I go to the cinema, I want to experience the same and see a doc like La timidezza delle chiome (directed by Valentina Bertani, selected for Venice Giornate degli AutoriI and about two identical twins of Jewish origin in their teens who begin to feeling they have no future) which goes well beyond the mainstream offering.”
