MIA returns to Rome from 19 to 23 October with a new market layout that “transforms historic Via Veneto and Piazza Barberini into a district dedicated to the international film and audiovisual industry, fostering encounters between creativity, industry, finance and innovation,” MIA writes. Doc projects are in the frame at the Co-pro Market and the Italians Doc It Better pitch event, while doc-related issues will be discussed and analyzed during the MIA Conference.
The 12th edition of MIA is held with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ICE – Italian Trade Agency.
In all, 630 projects were submitted (+26% compared with 2025) from 83 countries, of which 104 projects from 43 countries were selected across MIA’s various industry programmes, presenting “a broad and diverse geography of contemporary audiovisual production.” This is complemented by an extensive editorial programme, with more than 40 conferences, talks and meetings taking place across MIA’s 7 official venues, featuring 85 international speakers, with women accounting for more than 40%.
Alessandro Usai, President of ANICA, comments: “The value of MIA is measured by its ability to turn meetings into collaborations, ideas into works and talent into industrial growth. At a time of profound transformation in the audiovisual sector, the Market is strengthening both its international dimension and its role as a platform capable of supporting projects from idea to realisation, connecting creativity, companies, capital and opportunities.”
Gaia Tridente, Director of MIA, adds: “This edition of MIA is built around a precise ambition: to read market transformations as they happen and translate them into concrete opportunities for the industry. The programme brings together projects, voices and leading figures from the international industry in a constellation of different themes, experiences and perspectives, creating new connections and reflecting the complexity and transformations of the contemporary market.”
DOC CO-PRODUCTION MARKET (annotations supplied by MIA)
The 2026 Doc Co-Production Market will host the world pitch premieres of 11 feature documentaries, 2 docuseries and 2 TV one-offs from 11 countries: Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Nigeria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden and Ukraine.
Among the 15 projects in the Official Selection addressing crucial geopolitical and social issues are: Aftershock(Lithuania, Ukraine) by Mark Hammond, a moving exploration of intergenerational trauma in Ukraine that follows soldiers, families and children as they seek to heal invisible wounds before they become the next generation’s inheritance; Emmy-nominated director Sara Goldblatt‘s Get The F**K Out (Netherlands, US), a provocative look at American political emigration to Europe, particularly the Netherlands, which walks the fine line between political alarmism and prophetic urgency. On Ciao Italia! (France) by Mathilde Damoisel, the protagonists are resilient Italian emigrants presented in a universal story spanning more than a century of journeys across the Alps and the Atlantic.
The selection also makes room for crime: from Porn to Die (Italy), in which director Antimo Campanile takes an unflinching look at the dynamics of digital misogyny connected to the Tiziana Cantone case, to the international intrigue of Polo (Finland, UK) by multidisciplinary artist Amulio, and the tensions surrounding truffle hunting in Trifolao: Money, Poison, Truffle (Italy, US) by Diana Ferrero.
The Official Selection places significant emphasis on science communication and environmental protection, bringing urgent narratives with profound conceptual impact to public attention. A perfect example is Music of Chance (UK) by BAFTA- and Grierson Award-nominated Alex Kiehl, an intimate and engaged portrait of renowned physicist Fabiola Gianotti that explores her human, intellectual and professional journey. In parallel, Bleaching Nemo (Italy, UK, US) by Jason Brooks is a vital investigation into delicate environmental balances, focusing on the dramatic threats now endangering the survival of our marine ecosystems.
At the “beating heart” of the programme are intimate, deeply personal stories that probe the fragility and complexity of contemporary relationships. Swedish duo Emilio Di Stefano and Fabian Sigurd address the delicate ethics governing the relationship between human beings and artificial intelligence in Loving Ika(Sweden), while in The Things I Wasn’t Taught (Germany, Nigeria), Kehinde Temitope Odutayo, documents with intense emotional engagement the extraordinary resilience and determination of a Nigerian father building a future for his family.
Artistic and historical resonance is powerfully and vividly reflected in projects of exceptional cultural value such as Jago: L’ultimo capolavoro (Italy), directed by Lorenzo Promutico, which recounts sculptor Jago’s monumental and demanding creative struggle with an imposing 4.5-metre block of marble, transforming arduous physical labour into a profound exploration of humanity and the myth of David. Alongside it, Echoes of Tomorrow – Un’indagine Visionaria su un Inventore Dimenticato (Italy, UK), directed by Erica Mainini, Marco Morano and Tancredi Monaco, reveals the historical origins and forgotten legacy of the inventor from Messina who, in 1921, was the first to patent the sound system fundamental to cinema.
Italian customs, living passions and popular fervour emerge in Sei Milioni di Mister (Italy) by Filippo Macelloni and Paolo Borraccetti, a compelling portrait of the fantasy-football craze that unites millions of fans across the country. The narrative continues by exploring historical memory and the extraordinary social impact of Pietro Borzì‘s Superenalotto (Italy), about the legendary record jackpot shared by several residents of Peschici that transformed the life of an entire local community. Finally, continuing the theme of challenges and popular redemption. L’Ultimo Vincente (Italy) by Cristiano Gazzarrini is a thought-provoking work that celebrates the philosophy of finishing last in a romantic and gripping ultra-cycling race.
The programme is joined by the new Doc Connect: One-on-One section, comprising a further 7 documentary projects. The initiative was created to offer privileged access to the market through a guided programme of dedicated B2B meetings designed to connect authors and producers with leading international buyers and partners. The selected titles stand out for their strong narrative relevance, combining deep historical value with powerful emotional impact.
The projects range from iconic biographies, such as the artistic journey of Amii Stewart – The Rhythm of a Lifetime (Italy, US) by Marco Falorni and Andrea Frassoni, to reinterpretations of key events and figures of the last century, as in Boris Yeltsin, Forever Friends (Spain) by Manuel Rodriguez and Salò, Pasolini’s Last Cry(France) by Sophie Bassaler, and the blurred boundaries between reality and fiction represented by the Klimt painting in Double Portrait (Italy) by Manfredi Lucibello. They also tell stories of human resistance and the search for reconciliation: from the artists of Nahirna 22 (Ukraine) by Joel Espi in Kyiv, to the former Red Brigades member in La Sciara (Italy) by Serena Corvaglia, and the struggle of La Flaca (Colombia) by Alejandro Valbuena in Colombia.
“This selection signals a future of high-profile documentary co-productions defined by artistic innovation, thematic variety and original narrative approaches,” organisers write.
DOC CO-PRODUCTION MARKET SELECTIONS
- Aftershock, di Mark Hammond (Lithuania, Ukraine)
- Get The F**K Out, di Sara Goldblatt (Neths, US)
- Ciao Italia!, di Mathilde Damoisel (France)
- Porn to Die, di Antimo Campanile (Italy)
- Polo, di Amulio (Finland,UK)
- Trifolao: Money, Poison, Truffle, di Diana Ferrero (Italia, US)
- Music of Chance, di Alex Kiehl (UK)
- Bleaching Nemo, di Jason Brooks (Ital, UK, US);
- Loving Ika, di Emilio Di Stefano e Fabian Sigurd (Switzerland);
- The Things I Wasn’t Taught, di Kehinde Temitope Odutayo (Germany, Nigeria)
- Jago: L’ultimo capolavoro, di Lorenzo Promutico (Italy)
- Echoes of Tomorrow – Un’indagine Visionaria su un Inventore Dimenticato, di Erica Mainini, Marco Morano e Tancredi Monaco (Italy, UK)
- Sei Milioni di Mister, di Filippo Macelloni e Paolo Borraccetti (Italy)
- Superenalotto, di Pietro Borzì (Italy)
- L’Ultimo Vincente, di Cristiano Gazzarrini (Italy)
DOC CONNECT
- Amii Stewart – The Rhythm of a Lifetime, di Marco Falorni e Andrea Frassoni (Italy, US)
- Boris Yeltsin, Forever Friends, di Manuel Rodriguez (Spain)
- Salò, Pasolini’s Last Cry, di Sophie Bassaler (France)
- Double Portrait, di Manfredi Lucibello (Italy)
- Nahirna 22, di Joel Espi (Ukraine)
- La Sciara, di Serena Corvaglia (Italy)
- La Flaca, di Alejandro Valbuena (Colombia)
ITALIANS DOC IT BETTER
Once again this year, Italians Doc It Better, the showcase dedicated to Italian documentary, presents a programme made up entirely of pitch world premieres, with the aim of promoting Italian creative documentary and encouraging connections among producers, broadcasters, platforms and international decision makers.
The 2026 edition of Italians Doc It Better features 10 selected titles. Among the projects at an advanced stage, currently in post-production, is The Dancing Brothers, directed by Daniele Cini and produced by Talpa SAS: the moving story of six brothers who grew up in a small apartment in Southern Italy and became successful dancers on international stages; after their father’s death, they reunite in Lecce to build a new life project and once again share a common dream.
Also in post-production and focused on an intimate search, The Sound of Light by Riccardo Bianco, produced by Grey Ladder Productions, offers a visual and inner journey aboard a van transformed into a refuge, exploring the boundary between perception, spirituality, substance abuse and the search for identity. The theme of personal transformation and awareness returns in My Year with the Witch, currently at rough-cut stage, directed by GJ Squarcia and produced by Inside Man Films, centred on the encounter between a woman searching for herself and a healer immersed in nature, in a celebration of female freedom.
Industrial memory and global icons come to the fore with Ducati 100 years of a Legend, directed by Alex Infascelli and produced by Minerva Pictures Group, currently in post-production; through archive material and exclusive testimonies, it retraces a century of history of the Borgo Panigale brand, which has become a worldwide symbol of speed and innovation.
Also highly evocative is Moka, with a Small M by Matteo Severgnini, which takes the revolutionary coffee maker invented by Alfonso Bialetti as the starting point for a sharp reflection on industrial design and the ability to reinvent oneself in the present. Moving from design culture to the story of place, Sandiego by Dario Fusco, produced by EXA and currently in rough cut, examines Naples’ complex transformation, capturing its shift from a symbol of social challenges to a global tourist destination, between cultural momentum and the contradictions of mass tourism.
The investigative and geopolitical strand includes Ludwig – The Black Angels, directed by Simone Manetti and produced by B&B Film, now in post-production, a tightly focused investigation that reopens the wounds of the murders committed by the neo-Nazi group Ludwig between Italy and Germany, questioning links with the far right of the time and the many issues that remain unresolved. On an international stage, The Decoy Artist – The Incredible Story of Mario Moselli and Saddam Hussein’s Phantom Army by Gigi Roccati, a Verdiana production currently in rough cut, reveals the extraordinary story of the Italian entrepreneur who built perfect replicas of military equipment used in Middle Eastern conflicts during the Gulf War.
On the human-adventure side, the only completed title in the selection is Extreme Land Solo by Filippo Lupinifor Jok Produzioni, a portrait of explorer Lorenzo Barone as he undertakes solitary challenges in some of the world’s most extreme regions, balancing isolation and family bonds. Completing the selection is the surreal narrative of The Basket Case – A Cosmic Sports Docu-Comedy, co-directed by Paolo Borraccetti and Lorenzo Garzella and produced by NANOF, currently in post-production: a brilliant docu-comedy inspired by a controversial 1989 basketball game, weaving together sport, collective memory, quantum physics and an ironic rewriting of history.
- The Dancing Brothers, diretto da Daniele Cini e prodotto da Talpa SAS;
- The Sound of Light, di Riccardo Bianco, prodotto da Grey Ladder Productions;
- My Year with the Witch, diretto da GJ Squarcia e prodotto da Inside Man Films;
- Ducati 100 years of a Legend, Alex Infascelli e prodotto da Minerva Pictures Group in post-produzione
- Moka, with a Small M di Matteo Severgnini (in rough cut per TIWI);
- Sandiego, di Dario Fusco, prodotto da EXA;
- Ludwig – The Black Angels, diretto da Simone Manetti e prodotto da B&B Film;
- The Decoy Artist – The Incredible Story of Mario Moselli and Saddam Hussein’s Phantom Army, Gigi Roccati, una produzione Verdiana;
- Extreme Land Solo, di Filippo Lupini per Jok Produzioni;
- The Basket Case – A Cosmic Sports Docu-Comedy, Paolo Borraccetti e Lorenzo Garzella, con la produzione di NANOF.
INNOVATION FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: THE MIA CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
“Taken as a whole, the Innovation for the Creative Industries programme, which brings together the conferences curated by MIA, portrays an industry whose boundaries are increasingly fluid, where genres, languages and business models meet and cross-pollinate: a constellation of themes, perspectives and trajectories that MIA interprets through a more fluid and interconnected programme designed to create new connections across the different areas of the audiovisual sector,” MIA writes.
Many of the Conference sessions will be of interest to the doc and non-fiction attendees.
The sustainability of the independent production ecosystem will be the focus of Can Regulation Strengthen Independent Producers?, featuring Julie-Jeanne Regnault, Managing Director of EPC, Anthony Muldoon, President of CEPI, and Carlotta Calori, Co-Owner & Producer of Indigo Film. Moderated by Screen International’s Tim Dams, the discussion will address key issues including the protection and retention of IP rights, terms of trade, investment obligations and the ability of independent companies to build long-term value in their relationships with broadcasters and platforms.
Artificial Intelligence will naturally be one of the major cross-cutting themes of this edition. Producing with AI: Augmentation or Replacement?, featuring Max Wiedemann, Managing Director and Head of Artificial Intelligence at MEDIAWAN, and Tom Paton, Founder & CEO of AiMation, followed by a keynote from Al Munteanu, CEO of BriskPace Studios, will examine the practical use of AI across the production value chain, moderated by lawyer Stephen Saltzman (Partner & Head of the International Entertainment Group, FieldFisher).
Alongside the already announced fireside chat guests — Marco Bassetti in conversation with Marco Chimenz, MIA Strategic Consultant; Jane Tranter; Anna Marsh; and Edward Berger — MIA will welcome Asif Kapadia, one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in contemporary documentary cinema. The Academy Award-winning director of Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona will retrace his creative and international journey, reflecting on the narrative power of real stories, the choices that have shaped his cinematic language and the evolution of documentary film within the contemporary audiovisual landscape.
Joining him will be Kim Longinotto, one of the most influential and radical documentary filmmakers of recent decades, who will look back on more than forty years of cinema devoted in particular to the lives and struggles of women around the world, discussing her method, the experiences that shaped her perspective, her latest film Dalton’s Dream and the book she is writing about her life and work behind the camera.
In the panel SCORE (R)Evolution. How Music Shapes Reality: From Documentary Truth to Cinematic Mythmaking, MIA explores the role of music as a powerful narrative tool in contemporary film and audiovisual storytelling: from film scores to music biopics and artist-focused documentaries. Directors, composers and music creators will discuss how music can shape characters, emotions and identities, transforming reality into a cinematic experience. Participants include Sophia Dilley, EVP at Concord Records; King Marracash director Pippo Mezzapesa; composer Ginevra Nervi; Colm O’Callaghan, RTE producer of the latest Bono documentary Bad: The Song That Saved My Life; rapper and film-score composer Tommaso Piotta; and director and singer Federico Zampaglione.
On internationalisation policy, MIA will provide the setting in which the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Italian Ministry of Culture, together with the CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, will formally launch the new Italian-French expert group dedicated to European policies for the film and audiovisual sectors, established under the Cooperation Programme signed on 25 June in Antibes by the two countries’ Ministries of Culture. “The initiative marks a new phase in cooperation between Italy and France on key European dossiers and on strategies for the development and strengthening of their respective film and audiovisual industries,” MIA writes.
The DOC CONNECT programme consists of a series of practical, internationally focused Market Insightsdedicated to co-production, commissioning, distribution and growth strategies for independent documentaries. The sessions bring together broadcasters, commissioning editors and industry leaders including Nevine Mabro(BBC), Mikael Österby (SVT), Muhammad Refaat (Al Jazeera Documentary), Anna Godas (Dogwoof), Lea Fels (Scenery), Stephanie Carter (THIRTEEN), Marie Beuzard (ARTE France), Suzanne Biermann (ARTE G.E.I.E.) and Sabine Bubeck-Paaz (ZDF/ARTE), offering a direct view of new editorial priorities, international co-production models and strategies for bringing ambitious independent documentaries to the market and to audiences.
For the first time, MIA and Lega Calcio Serie A are launching an event dedicated to bridging the audiovisual industry and the world of football, exploring the sport as an extraordinary universe of stories, characters, and new intellectual properties. Through a series of targeted meetings with producers, the initiative connects the audiovisual industry with new IP emerging from the football ecosystem, aiming to identify stories and projects with development potential for film, series, documentaries, and new formats. This creates a new space for business and scouting, opening MIA up to one of the most powerful contemporary sources of storytelling, audiences, and IP.
Among the program’s key themes, Back to the Future: It’s All About the Story explores the transformation of the audiovisual ecosystem—now increasingly fluid and circular—spanning digital platforms, VOD, and EST, alongside a renewed interest in physical media and the strategic return of the cinema as an event destination.The panel will reflect on the evolution of consumption and distribution models and on an audience increasingly attentive to the quality of the experience, the value of the content, and legality, while examining new dynamics and opportunities for the domestic and international industry.
The complete MIA 2026 programme is available on the website www.miamarket.
