For Marco Spagnoli, Deputy Director and Head of Doc & Factual at MIA, the enormous emphasis placed on documentary within this so-called “golden age,” both by public and professionals alike, is long overdue, and is one that he is eager to reflect in his programme during the Rome event, running 11-15 both in-person and online.
“I think it was time,” he tells Business Doc Europe, “and it’s not surprising that it is happening [now] when we have so many issues with the news, with let’s say, traditional information. Because people more and more want to see stories about real life or stories about ‘reality,’ about, in quote, ‘truth.’”
The 2022 offers up a smorgasbord of doc and non-fiction content, comprising new project presentations and top-level analysis of the documentary processes during talks and masterclasses.
MIA’s Doc Pitching Forum presents 18 new doc projects, comprising nine international and nine Italian. Spagnoli points to doc projects that present strong female oriented themes, such as 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 story of the stolen door at the Bataclan Theater in Paris where Banksy had placed 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 autobiographical fashion in Fragments of a Life Loved, directed by Chloé Barreau (Italy) and produced by Matteo Rovere (Groenlandia SRL).
Additionally, the Italians Doc It Better programme offers up a further 12 new documentaries to potential stakeholders across the international doc sector, covering subjects as diverse as Irishman Gerry Conlon, one of the so-called Guildford Four who were wrongly convicted of bombing the British mainland in 1974, and an analysis of the Montessori style of schooling. Also up for grabs is A Summer With Joe, Liz and Richard, Sergio Naitza’s doc about the colossal flop that was the 1967 film ‘Cliff of Desires,’ that starred Liz Taylor and Richard Burton and was directed by Joseph Losey.
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)and 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.
Deputy Director Spagnoli is not shy about the promotion of the Italian production output at MIA. “We are funded through public money and we have two goals,” he says. “We need to promote and in a way advertise Italian products.” But this is more effective within a forum where the best of doc content from around the world is also up for grabs. “We believe in the free market although we are socialist – but also liberal…in a sense that the idea is that if you compete, competition brings more people [guests and buyers].”
“We believe that if you come to Italy, you should find something that you usually don’t get to find in the other markets,” Spagnoli adds. “And Italians are doing very good things in documentaries. There are many opportunities to produce, to make documentaries here. Something is happening.”
The importance of the international doc and factual sector is reflected in a wide range of talks and masterclasses on offer this year. These include the October 11 panel on archive. “That will be dealing with the use of archives and the laws surrounding archives, and the cost of archives,” Spagnoli underlines. This panel plays in counterpoint to the October 14 Tinder Swindler case study. “This is a very interesting documentary because the user archives are from social media…used in the same way we would use the BFI archive, for example. It’s interesting as it is a very modern, very contemporary [approach]. So for us it’s very important.”
In the October 14 Local Stories for a Global Audience session, senior producer Chiara Messineo will explain how documentaries can be “translated” abroad and how they can be worked internationally without losing specificity. Also on October 14, MIA presents “a reflection on sports storytelling” in the Hit that Doc: Sport Documentaries in the Global Arena panel with Victoria Barrell (Sylver Entertainment), Ughetta Ercolano (DAZN), Giovanni Filippetto, Emanuele Nespeca (Solaria Film), Domenico Procacci (Fandango) and Adele Reeves (Red Bull Studios).
The featured screenwriter Giovanni Filipetto wrote the Netflix doc Kobe – Una Storia Italiana, about the late basketball great Kobe Bryant, who grew up on the basketball courts of Italy enjoying pasta, country life, and football. “He spoke Italian not only perfectly, but with an authentic north Italian accent,” says Spagnoli. “This is an Italian story but it’s interesting because more and more you will see in our program there are connections about stories that can deal with many countries… Documentary as a language is maybe more universal than [fiction] film.”
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. The support for Ukraine further extends to the Documentary Filmmaking inside the War panel in which Ukrainian and international speakers will talk about war storytelling and filmmaking as it has entered the lives of people around the world through television, social media and cinema.
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.
Spagnoli further emphasises the friendly appeal of his event. “We try to tear down separations. It’s very well organized, but there is less structure. I don’t like barriers. Of course people meet the people they want to meet, but still you have many chances [to meet other professionals] in order to get ideas, to get to know other people. It’s more, let’s say, a social event. It more favours, let’s say, business in a relaxed way. An Italian approach.”
MIA director Gaia Tridente succeeded Lucia Milazzotto earlier this year.
