19/11/2018 - The activity organised by the European Film Festival together with AGICI invited an impressive number of producers in order to enlighten them on producing in Italy

José Luis Cienfuegos, Cristina Priarone, Marina Marzotto and Barbara Bettelli during the round-table (© Concha de la Rosa/SEFF)

This year, the Seville European Film Festival decided to bring into focus one of the mainstays of the continent’s film industry. Italy was the guest country at the 15^th edition of the gathering, which decided to shine the spotlight on the nation after it was accepted into the Ibermedia programme. Organised together with AGICI – the Italian General Association of Independent Film-Audiovisual Industries and Cineuropa, the programme, dubbed Sistema Italia, invited a contingent of Italian film-industry representatives to the festival.

Professionals from companies such as Alfea Cinematografica, Amarcord Films, C1V Edizioni, Dea Film, Haka Film, Kinedimorae, Mad Entertainment, ManaFilm, Oki Doki Film, Piroetta and Propaganda Italia took part in the activities organised by the festival. The Andalucía Film Commission invited participants on a tour to visit locations in Seville, so that they could discover the city’s strong potential for film shoots.

A round-table dedicated to co-producing with Italy was also organised, featuring a presentation by the festival’s director, José Luis Cienfuegos, and the presence of head of industry activities Olimpia Pont Cháfer. The director of the Roma Lazio Film Commission, Cristina Priarone, producer at Propaganda Italia and president of AGICI Marina Marzotto, and a lawyer specialising in the creative industry, Barbara Bettelli, from the BeLaw Law Firm, explained several aspects of their work and the ways in which they can offer their help and support to those producers interested in collaborating with the system, be they Spanish or Italian. “The Roma Lazio Film Commission has always been involved in co-production work; we have been making progress and have earmarked funds for that very purpose,” explained Priarone, emphasising the millions of euros that they spend per annum on fostering the industry in the region. Every year, they receive an average of 150 applications for support from professionals, and they form part of the Italian Film Commissions association, which offers its help to every part of the country. “Italy has never been so open to these kinds of initiatives; the legislation has embraced the professionals’ suggestions: we must not be fooled into thinking that in a globalised world, our sector will not be affected,” remarked Bettelli, who broke down how the Italian tax credit works to those present. “Over the last few years, we’ve established that there is a language problem, as producers find it difficult to work in a language which is not their own. It’s important to look for a producer from the other country so that they can serve as a guide. That’s why we came to Spain to talk about Italy, because we need to create those conduits for understanding, and because it’s very important to bolster the system so that it will be of mutual benefit,” stated Marzotto.

The programme was rounded off by a case study on the work of Carlo D’Ursi, an Italian professional who heads up Madrid-based production outfit Potenza Producciones, and his experiences with the Ibermedia programme, as well as with a series of one-on-one meetings between representatives of various Italian organisations and the professionals attending the festival.

(Translated from Spanish)