Rome’s MIA Market Selects 60 Projects For Co-Production Pitch

Rome’s MIA Market has seen a 20% increase in submissions for its Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum, with 60 of the 600 received selected to be presented.

The number of submissions rose from 80 to 90, with a 12.5% increase in the number of countries of origin. Genres span drama, docs, film and animation

The popular Drama Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum has seen submissions up 6%, with 14 series projects from 12 nations presenting.

Among the drama projects are Italian productions A Family Reunion (Riuione di Famiglia), a family thriller produced by Rosario Rinaldo for Cross Productions and written by Donatella Diamanti, Mauro Casiraghi, Simona Coppini, Alessandra Martellini, Marzio Paoltroni and Nicola Ravera Rafele; and Uglycomics (Fumettibrutti), which is based on the graphic novel trilogy by Josephine Yole Signorelli, produced by Bim Produzioni and written by Teresa Ciabatti, Laura Luchetti and Michele Pellegrini.

International co-productions Palmyra is a French-Lebanese story about three heiresses of a precious artefact from an ancient Syrian city, while The Aosawa Murders is a U.S.-Japanese effort based on Riku Onda’s book of the same name. Takeo Kodera from Kadokawa and Jonathan Kier from Upgrade Productions are producing the show, which investigates the 1973 mass murders of the Aosawa family.

From the UK is Castle of the Eagles, a Jeff Pope-penned series about a prison escape from Mussolini’s Colditz prison that’s produced by Xavier Marchand for Moonriver and based on the book of the same name by Mark Felton. The Little Italian Hotel, from Giuliano Papadia and Chiara Cardoso for Blackbox Multimedia and written by comedian Kay Stonham, is about a road trip across Italy ro rediscover love.

Germany’s Story House Pictures and writers Andreas Gutzeit, Michal Aviram and Swantje Oppermann are behind The Book of Longings, based on Sue Monk Kidd’s book that weaves historical events with contemporary themes, while also from Germany is Viktoria Frankenstein. Written by Rachel Mathews and Andreas Fuhrmann and produced by Sven Miehe for Flare Film, which offers a female reinterpretation of Mary Shelley’s work.

From Ireland comes Yes!, while the Netherlands is providing The Night Watch. Others include Belgium’s The Best Immigrant, Switzerland’s Dolce Amelia and Canada’s Bat Out of Hell and French series Lifeline/Canal 16.

The film pitch is up 32%, with applications from 58 countries. Fourteen projects from 10 countries, including the UK, Italy and France, will be presented. The docs pitch will see 14 projects from 13 countries represented, with nine produced or directed by women, MIA said. The animation pitch has seen a 50% increase, with 15 projects from 15 countries presenting to judges.

The tenth edition of MIA, which is a joint venture between ANICA and APA, will run October 14-18 at the Palazzo Barbernini and Cinema Barberini. Gaia Tridente is directing the program for the third year. The fest claims more than 100 audio-visual productions have been created after participation in the market.