19/10/2014 - Rai Com, international sales arm of Italy's pubcaster Rai, brings a powerful slate to Rome's The Business Street. Cineuropa spoke with Mattia Oddone, Head of Cinema and TV International Sales

The sun is shining in Rome, and for Rai Com, the international sales arm of Italy's pubcaster Rai, it's not just a mere weather report. The provisional balance-sheet is positive for the company entering the last lap of The Business Street (TBS), Rome IFF's film market which will end tomorrow in Rome.

At the Italian market, Rai Com has a powerful slate, including festival titles as Francesco Munzi's Black Souls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Munzi
film profile] and Mario Martone's Leopardi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mario Martone
film profile], both selected at Venice (Competition) and Toronto (Official Selection) and the awaited Oriana, Marco Turco's take on world famous Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, in post-production.

On the beautiful roof terrace of TBS' headquarters in Bernini Bristol Hotel Cineuropa spoke with Mattia Oddone, Head of Cinema and TV International Sales at Rai Com.

Cineuropa: What do you think about this edition of TBS?
I would say it's very likable. It's the right place to work, there's a lot of attention for Italian productions: foreign distributors are searching for Italian titles because they know they will find good products here. You can see people busy, everyone is trying to understand what's in the line-ups, screenings are packed. I think this is the right direction for TBS: the best place to sell Italian films is Italy. When I was in Pusan, many buyers told me 'we'll talk about Italian films in Rome'. The organizers worked a lot on it and they got very good results.

What's in your line-up here in Rome?
We have a solid line-up of recent titles that have been previewed in Venice and Toronto as Black Souls and Leopardi, but also Ivano De Matteo's The Dinner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivano De Matteo
film profile], Gabriele Salvatores' Italy in Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Pupi Avati's A Golden Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and two features film in post-production, the female-driven Latin Lover from Cristina Comencini and the awaited Oriana from Marco Turco.

How's the provisional balance-sheet of your participation to this edition of TBS?
Definitely positive. We have closed a pre-sale for Oriana with Taiwan and a number of deals for Black Souls, including Norway, Taiwan and Portugal, with ongoing negotiations for Turkey, Spain, Canada and US. We sold Pif's The Mafia only Kills in Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierfrancesco Diliberto
film profile] to Japan, I'm very happy about it, and we expect to close other deals by the end of the market.