The second day of MIA opened with a spectacular presentation in the Planetarium, “The Italian Journey: A Showcase of Italian TV excellence”, a journey of discovery confirming the beauty of the Italian country and illustrating the great art of the Italian workforce. But not only that: To attract foreign producers to Italy there isn’t only the country’s “Great Beauty” but also new fiscal incentives.
The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Dario Franceschini, presented indeed the new Film Law to national and international professionals: “It will be the sort of law which will affect the entire sector, and, forty years in the waiting, it will support, help and incentivise the film and audiovisual industry. Finally, there is a concrete fund of 400 million euros which can also be increased, because it is based on fiscal incomings. Amongst the number of developments there will be support for schools, for those wanting to open and restore historical theatres, but above all there will be automatic access for productions to the tax credit and it will no longer be down to the commissions’ discretion.”
Moreover, the President of the Lazio Region, Nicola Zingaretti, presented the 2016 edition of Lazio Cinema International, which has 10 million euros to support companies in the audiovisual industry. The presentation took place at Rome’s Massimo Museum within the framework of MIA, in the presence of MIBACT director Nicola Borrelli, president of the Roma Lazio Film Commission Luciano Sovena, the director Giovanni Veronesi, the actor Sergio Rubini, the producer Arturo Paglia along with international professionals from the sector. The objective of the new call is to support the system’s production capacity within the territory to work on big international co-productions, promoting filming in Lazio and the involvement of the industry while encouraging the structural growth of the audiovisual sector in Lazio. “I am happy to say”, said Zingaretti, “that we have added another building block to the policy of support for the audiovisual industry, to create a model of development which will support culture. Politics should be able to transform this wealth into affluence for all.”
During the day of MIA DOC Talks the role of arts and culture programmes on television was discussed. Culture needs to be relevant for a broader audience by showing how art and artists can cast their own perspective on society, which is different from the one given by media. Numerous case studies and projects have been presented in order to put art in people’s lives so they can perceive it and use it in their daily life, even when they are reading a book or talking to a friend. On this subject the Director of Sky Art, Roberto Pisoni, explained the experience of the Hub, launched last year by Sky Art, which saw a lively collaboration between Italy, Germany and the UK.
