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The fifth edition of Olbia Film Network is ready and raring to go

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- Attracting the best of independent film productions to Sardinia, and attended by producers, distributors, directors and actors and buyers from all over the world, the festival is unspooling 25-26 June

The fifth edition of Olbia Film Network is ready and raring to go
OFN Artistic Director Matteo Pianezzi (right) and Head of Industry Activities Francesco Lattarulo during the presentation of the 2021 line-up

Dedicated to the finest film debuts of local, national and international origin, the fifth edition of Olbia Film Network is set to unspool on 25 and 26 June and will once again attract the very best independent film productions to Sardinia, in the presence of producers, distributors, directors, actors, TV buyers and cultural institutes from all over the world, in an event offering up free screenings, which are open to the public, and a selection of professional meetings.

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The film inaugurating this year’s edition, on Friday 25 June, is Maternal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile
]
by Maura Delpero, which is set to be screened in the presence of actress Lidya Liberman. The following day will see Regina [+see also:
film review
interview: Alessandro Grande
film profile
]
take centre stage, a film directed by Alessandro Grande and starring Francesco Montanari, which will be presented to the public in the presence of the director and his lead actress Ginevra Francesconi. Both feature films are set to receive the First Work award as the best debut films of the year.

In terms of the professional meetings in the offing, first works of fiction by young directors (the PrimaVera section) and international projects in search of international co-producers (Minor_IT section) are set to be presented to a number of producers and distributors, including the likes of Wildside, Rai Cinema, Amazon Prime Video, TVCO, Fandango, Vivo Film, dispàrte, Rosamont, Intramovies, Cinemaundici, Articolture, Mir Cinematografica, True Colours, among others.

“We’ve seen an excellent response to our various calls for submissions, especially for PrimaVera projects where young directors are looking for producers willing to gamble on their stories”, explained Artistic Director Matteo Pianezzi, upon presenting the festival programme in Olbia yesterday. “Minor_IT, on the other hand, is a brand-new initiative which involved significant scouting work on our part. The aim was to find four high-calibre, international projects which were in an advanced stage of production and were looking for a minority Italian co-producer”.

“We’re looking to root the event ever more deeply in the development phase of film production and in international co-production”, added Head of Industry Activities Francesco Lattarulo. “Our market is known for being the natural stomping ground for the best of Italian debut film production. There are many schools of thought in this domain, and we believe that in order to make brilliant films, you need to focus on the international potential of the story, and on the writing itself”.

Olbia Film Network enjoys the support of the Italian Ministry for Culture, the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, the Sardinia Film Commission Foundation and the Town of Olbia.

The titles selected for the festival are as follows:

PrimaVera

All’infuori della mia famiglia - Miro Mastropasqua
Cattiva Strada - Davide Angiuli
Chemio - Gianni Cesaraccio
Fiesta - Giorgio Nicolai
Fiore d’arancio - Edoardo Paoli
Il sentiero delle volpi - Marco Armando Piccinini
Nudi e crudi - Damiano Monaco
Ospiziu - Teresa Sala

Minor_IT

Plan75 (Japan)
Produced by Eiko Mizuno-Gray (Loaded Films)

Parade (Lithuania)
Produced by Klementina Remeikaite (Afterschool Production)

The Sweetest Bitterness of Ripe Pomegrates (Macedonia)
Produced by Elena Stanisheva (Veda FilmProductions)

A Romantic Painter (Argentina)
Produced by Lucía Ciruelos (Ruda Cine)

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(Translated from Italian)

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