18/04/2007

From April 2006 through March 2007, 40% of Italian audiences chose to see quality films on the over 800 screens throughout the entire country that took part in "Schermi di Qualità" (lit. “Quality Screens”).

The initiative, which aims to distribute Italian and European quality films, received €3m in backing from the General Direction For Cinema of the Ministry of Culture, and was created by AGIS (an umbrella association within the entertainment industry) through participating exhibitors associations ANEC (National Exhibitors Association), ACEC and FICE .

The initiative – conceived by director Pupi Avati and producer Lionello Cerri several years ago – thus reaped positive results in its latest edition, which brought audiences 204 quality films, including Volver [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agustín Almodóvar
interview: Carmen Maura
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
interview: Pénélope Cruz
film profile] by Pedro Almodóvar, the most seen title with 513,143 admissions (equal to 43.58% of the film’s overall admissions in Italy); as well as Saturno Contro by Ferzan Özpetek, Nanni Moretti’s The Caiman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile], Golden Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandre Mallet-Guy
interview: Charlotte Gainsbourg
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Emanuele Crialese
interview: Fabrizio Mosca
film profile] by Emanuele Crialese, Woody Allen’s Scoop [+see also:
trailer
film profile], My Best Friend [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Patrice Leconte, La cena per farli conoscere by Avati, The Unknown [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Giuseppe Tornatore, Stephen Frears’ The Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile] and The Wind That Shakes the Barley [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] by Ken Loach.

ANEC President Paolo Protti emphasised how much participation among exhibitors has increased, explaining that "545 of 818 screens are arthouse screens, but 195 are industrial screens, many of which are in multiplexes that have chosen to program quality films".

(Translated from Italian)