The panel Cinema in Italy: a brighter tomorrow? took place today, 9 October 2023 in the premises of the ninth edition of MIA | Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo.
The event shone a light on the state of Italian cinema at European and international level, focusing in particular on investments, cinema attendance and the participation of Italian products in international festivals.
On stage in Room 5 of the Barberini Cinema Paolo Sinopoli, Editor in Chief of Box Office, coordinated the discussion among the speakers who attended the event: Alessandro Araimo, General Manager Southern Europe Warner Bros. Discovery, Paolo Del Brocco ,CEO of Rai Cinema, Piera Detassis, President & Artistic Director, Accademia del Cinema Italiano-Premi David di Donatello, Giampaolo Letta, Vice President and CEO, Medusa, Federica Lucisano, CEO of Italian International Film S.r.l., Marina Marzotto, Founder and Senior Partner of Propaganda Italia and Massimiliano Orfei, CEO of Vision Distribution SpA.
The conversation focused on the current situation of the film industry, which seems to be increasingly in turmoil and on the verge of new changes.
Alessandro Araimo, General Manager Southern Europe Warner Bros. Discovery emphasised how “…it is necessary to find a small part of the budget to experiment on new talents and new areas, such as horror; here we can find new potential on the Italian scene.”
Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Rai Cinema, also dwelt on the importance of developing new talent and precisely selecting future investments: “We have seen large investments in recent years, but we should reduce the volumes in order to focus more on young people and on developing event-driven films”.
The discussion was then joined by Piera Detassis, President & Artistic Director, Accademia del Cinema Italiano-Premi David di Donatello, who added: “Platforms have increased the critical sense (…) we need to be able to distinguish what is produced for the cinema, which remains the first form of promotion, and what can directly go on streaming.”
Giampaolo Letta, Vice President and CEO of Medusa also commented on the matter: “In recent years, many writing and directing talents have emerged, but also many examples of young actresses and actors with potential, such as the group of Skam Italia or that of Mare Fuori”
The floor was then passed to Federica Lucisano, CEO of Italian International Film: “It is important to give priority to the big screen: we must hope that companies will aggregate on a single ambitious project capable of going beyond national borders”
Massimiliano Orfei, CEO of Vision Distribution SpA, then spoke on the theme of audience fragmentation between streaming and theatres: “If it is true that we are facing a divarication of audiences, it is (…) important to reconnect and make a product designed for theatres and also able to work on platforms.”
