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Alessandro Borrelli • La Sarraz

Producers on the move 2012 - Italy

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- Cannes will be an opportunity to promote new projects, consolidate existing partnerships and explore the potential for European co-production networks

After some award-winning narrative documentaries, often distributed in cinemas, La Sarraz has produced the first feature film by the De Serio brothers, Seven Acts of Mercy [+see also:
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, a film which was very well received by the critics and the public.

Cineuropa: What assessments can you now make of your project with the De Serio brothers?
Alessandro Borrelli: I am extremely satisfied with the De Serio brothers’ first feature. I rank them amongst the few young authors of Italian cinema to have an authentic vision. There is rightly a lot of investment in stories and writing, but bar a few exceptions, I often see films where the directing is fairly flat or too “inspired” by other authors. Image has to play a fundamental role in film.

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Now you have your sights on another young promise, Sergio Basso
For about two years now we have been trying to set up the production for a film together with Sergio set in a political refugee camp in Nepal, E adesso torniamo a casa. The narrative approach is very original and we plan to work at 360° using the potentials offered by “transmedia”, little exploited in Italy. For this project we already have an excellent partner in Denmark and we are negotiating with some French companies.

In the last few years co-productions have decreased in Italy. Do you not think that these are missed opportunities for distributing films and diversifying funding?
Italy runs the risk of counting less and less on the international audiovisual industry if no solutions are found: even just small contributions, but urgent ones, both in the television and distribution industry and in public and regional institutions. Currently we do not have any tools to involve producers and to attract significant international projects in Italy, except for tax credit. I think that television should be bolder in investing in Italian products, even minority ones, which create a positive relationship of reciprocity with European countries. The same goes for state funding: devising one part which goes towards funding minority co-productions would create great opportunities for exchange for all of us.

Do you believe in the short-term future of the distribution of so-called ‘quality’ films on alternative platforms?
In the future I see distribution making use of both cinemas and the net, starting from cross/transmedia and therefore, in a second instance, exploiting the product’s concurrent distribution. In particular, so-called "quality films" can only benefit from this solution. And cinemas too. Provided that an urgent solution is found to combat piracy.

What are your expectations of the Producer on the Move experience in Cannes?
  It will be an even more important opportunity to exploit to promote our projects, and for this I would like to thank EFP and Cinecittà Luce. The aim is to consolidate our existing partnerships and to explore the potential network for European co-productions. In fact, this year we attended the Atélier du Cinéma Européen with another project by Sergio Basso, Ti ho sulla punta delle dita, co-produced with China. Apart from a future, hopefully imminent, feature by the De Serio brothers, I am following the co-production with France of Eugène Green’s next film, set entirely in Italy and a very exciting project by Umberto Spinazzo about food wastage, set entirely in Turin.

Producers on the move is a EUROPEAN FILM PROMOTION project.

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