The founder of the distribution firm chatted with us about her mission of bringing arthouse films to Italian cinemas, offering an original perspective on modern-day life

For our final interview within the context of Distributor of the Month 2024, we sat down with Stefania Rifiordi, founder of Invisible Carpet, to ask a few questions about her company’s activities, her promotional strategies and the distribution of Mara Tamkovich’s first work Under the Grey Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mara Tamkovich
film profile].

Cineuropa: Could you tell us about Invisible Carpet’s editorial policy and the set-up of its staff?
Stefania Rifiordi: Invisible Carpet selects arthouse films with an original perspective on a specific social, historical, political or quite simply human context, transposing it into a universal and recognisable film language. Our staff is made up of a consolidated team of professionals who work on a per-project basis on every film we release, taking care of every little detail and paying full attention to every single aspect involved in the process: communications, media relations, marketing, the commercial side, dubbing and more.

How many titles have you managed over the course of the past year?
Since 2020, the year we were founded but also a year marked by Covid, with the subsequent closure of cinemas in Italy, we’ve released four films: L’ora del crepuscolo, Klondike [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maryna Er Gorbach
film profile], Brighton 4th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Koguashvili
film profile] and Under the Grey Sky, and this latter title is still in the release phase following its selection in the 42nd Torino Film Festival – where it won a Special Mention from the Holden School – and the director’s tour of six Italian cities which has only just come to an end. We’ve gone from one title per year to two, and we’re hoping to be able to manage at least four per year.

Which main events do you attend?
One unmissable event is the Marché du Film, where we find most of our films to be released in cinemas, after our inclusive premieres: our mission is actually to bring cinema to invisible people; in other words, those who live on the margins, who aren’t properly connected to the fabric of society. Since 2020, despite Covid, we’ve managed to organise proper screenings in places frequented by invisible people: in Eboli prison, for 30 inmates; in the Battipaglia care home for children and young adults without families; for 100 homeless people in Roma Termini, Napoli Centrale and Milano Centrale train stations; for 100 young people from the disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Corviale in Rome, Rione Sanità in Naples and the Central Station Tunnel nightclub in Milan; for 100 Ukrainian refugees who were special guests at Rome Film Fest and at the Linea d’Ombra Film Festival in Salerno; for 100 gambling addicts and others affected by addiction, invited anonymously to premieres in Rome and Naples. In terms of our Rome and Milan premieres of Under the Grey Sky, which explores the press crackdown organised by the Belarussian regime, we invited journalist and camerawoman Darya Chultsova, on whose story the film is based - who was arrested in Belarus in 2020 together with journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva for having live-streamed footage from the protests following the political elections rigged by Lukashenko – to attend screenings and take part in Q&A sessions with the director, together with journalist Paolo Borrometi, the co-director of the AGI Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (Italian News Agency) who lives under police protection on account of the repeated threats, attacks and intimidation that have been meted out by local mafia clans in his region; journalist Stefania Battistini, a TG1 correspondent who has lived under police protection ever since the Russian authorities sent an arrest warrant and extradition request for her and her cameraman; journalist Duilio Giammaria, who was a war zone correspondent for RAI for many years; and Lorenzo Cremonesi, sent by the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Have there been any changes in revenue sources over the past few years, what with cinema, VOD, TV sales and so on?
It’s definitely the case that cinema is enjoying a favourable period in terms of quality and creativity, which are our biggest incentives to carry on. Fruits should only be picked when they’re ripe, and waiting is the number-one rule for us. We’re well positioned on all fronts, but TV sales help us to move forward at a faster pace.

Who are your preferred audiences? And which do you struggle to attract?
Our target audience is the cinephile audience, the people who usually frequent arthouse cinemas. But we’ve also seen an interest in our films from younger, school-age audiences: young people seem to be particularly attracted to high-quality, arthouse cinema. The audience is there; our biggest problem is finding an adequate number of cinemas all over Italy where we can show our films.

What strategies do you tend to use in promotional campaigns?
The best promotion each of our films enjoys is for them to be accompanied by their directors, whom we invite to take part in a week-long tour in the most prestigious Italian cinemas. Audiences are our best allies; we can’t have strategies without people taking part in it all. Nothing can replace the promotion that comes with allowing the main parties to talk about it: the director and the audience.

Are festivals still fundamental when releasing films?
Festivals are a kind of fertile ground for releasing films: Under the Grey Sky is proof of this. The film enjoyed considerable attention from the press and from critics, in a festival setting that was best suited to this first work by such a keen talent. The stories of Andreyeva and Chultsova returned to prominence thanks to this film. We really hope that this renewal in attention results in the release of Chultsova, who has been sentenced to 8 years, 3 months-plus, in prison.

(Translated from Italian)