The 2022 MIA DOC Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present a selection of 18 documentary projects from 10 countries divided into one-offs, series and products primarily intended for television or platform use. As in past years, the Italian projects represents roughly half of the selection.
The projects were evaluated and chosen by the international selection committee composed of Rudy Buttignol, President, NXT Broadcast Strategy & Brand; Fabio Mancini, Commissioning Editor, RAI; Anas Abdel Wahab Khelawy, Sr. Producer, Commissioning Production Department, Al Jazeera; and Nora Philippe, Head of Program, Eurodoc.
“The selection embraces the most diverse themes and subjects as further proof that world production in general, and Italian production more specifically, is experiencing a sort of ‘golden age’ both in terms of the richness of the choice of stories and in terms of the storytelling methods that make use of interviews, meetings and exclusive materials. An extraordinary maturity and unprecedented quality also found in many other works that could not be selected due to lack of space,” write MIA organisers.
MIA points to doc projects that present strong female oriented themes: The Deliver Line, directed by Nance Ackerman (Canada), which explains how more than 800 women a day die worldwide from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In Napalm Girl, directed by Valeria Parisi (Italy), produced by Didi Gnocchi (3D PRODUCTIONS), the story of Kim Phúc the little girl portrayed naked in one of the most famous photos concerning the Vietnam War is told, recalling her story and the dramatic events surrounding the picture.
Banksy and the Sad Girl, directed by Edoardo Anselmi (Italy), produced by Gioia Avvantaggiato (GA&A Productions s.r.l.) tells the incredible story of the stolen door at the Bataclan Theater in Paris where Banksy had created one of his works of art, later found in Italy after being sold for 4 million euros. The analysis of the memories of one’s loves is told in an autobiographical way by Fragments of a Life Loved, directed by Chloé Barreau (Italy) and produced by Matteo Rovere (GROENLANDIA SRL).
Sports documentaries will be featured at MIA 2022 with Olhão Or Nothing, directed by Gabriele Micalizzi (Italy), produced by Luca Genova (THE HOUSE OF) and Livio Basoli (DUDE Originals) with 6 episodes telling about an unlikely team of “wonderful losers” coached by an international soccer star. Imola 1994, directed by Francesco Merini (Italy), produced by Ilaria Malagutti (Mammut film) takes the viewer back to that Grand Prix in which Ayrton Senna lost his life, changing the history of Formula 1 forever.
Among the new features of MIA 2022 is the B2B Exchange, an initiative to support the Ukrainian audiovisual industry with content, events and market activities that involve Ukrainian professionals and bring them back to the heart of the global audiovisual industry.
MIA 2022 enjoys for the first time the patronage of Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitalization of European cinematographic works, which aims to promote the European film industry by supporting its production, distribution and cooperation among professionals in different countries.
This year, MIA renews its activity dedicated to international distribution: the MIA Buyers Club program. MIA Buyers Club offers a more compact and linear schedule, focused on MIA Film’s works in progress initiatives: What’s Next Italy, a showcase of Italian films to be released in 2023, exclusive screenings of film premieres and international sales agents’ line up presentations; and C EU Soon, dedicated to the first and second European films in post-production.
Other programme highights
Coming to MIA 2022 is one of the year’s most successful documentaries The Tinder Swindler, the story of a deception carried out on Northern European women by a serial liar. Director Felicity Morris (also producer of Don’t Fuck With Cats) along with producer Joel Zimmer (President AGC Unwritten, AGC Studios) will talk exclusively for MIA about the challenges and potential of unprecedented and contemporary storytelling based on stock footage taken primarily from Social Media.
In the panel Multinational co-production, future-proofing creative business models in the independent film business a group of U.S. producers, funds and financing agents will discuss the global ecosystem of independent film production, including private equity, government funds and tax incentives. Among the confirmed speakers are Carlo Cresto-Dina (Producer & CEO, Tempesta, Italy), Frédéric Fiore (President & Partner, Logical Pictures, France), Maren Olson (EVP at 30West, USA), Roeg Sutherland (Head of Media Finance CAA USA) and Julie Viez (Producer, Cinenovo, France). “Through examples and best cases, panelists will consider the current film financing and production scenario, and their perspective on the future,” write organisers.
The Innovation for Creative Industries program “is just one of the many lenses through which MIA is offering a fresh look this year, and a pathway to insight into the topic of technological innovation and digitalization related to the audiovisual industry. Filming without creative limitations, safely as possible with the use of technology,” write organisers. Thanks to the collaboration with the Italian outfit OneExtra group, all registered professionals will have a chance to enter a real Virtual Production demo room inside Palazzo Barberini, the headquarters of MIA.
MIA will also host a meeting organized with the MiSE (Ministry of Economic Development) in which strategies related to the development of 5G technology in the field of production and distribution of audiovisual content will be discussed, together with the issue of the protection of minors in the field of video games and the distribution of related content, between e-sports and pro-players.
The 8th edition of MIA take place in the historic Palazzo Barberini venue and Cinema Barberini, directly connected to the Palazzo. The MIA Digital platform will be active also this year to allow registered in person attendees and those attending remotely to access all sessions live and on-demand. MIA is growing year on year, write organisers, demonstrating the increasingly relevant role of the Roman market. In 2021 more than 2,000 industry professionals attended. In general, more than 500 projects were submitted in 2022 year, from 65 countries around the world with approximately 70 projects selected.
MIA was devised in 2015 by ANICA (Italian Association of Film, Audiovisual and Digital Industries) and APA (Audiovisual Producers Association). “Today, it is the most important industry event in Italy and has fully entered the international agenda of events dedicated to audiovisual professionals who recognize its peculiarity as a marketplace conceived with editorial care. The market offers an extensive program with specific activities for pillar of content, with dedicated pitching forums, showcases, targeted networking activities and a rich program of conferences covering the most relevant topics of the audiovisual industry,” write organisers.
