Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (MIA) returns with its 9th edition to be held in Rome from October 9-13, in its historic venues of Palazzo Barberini and Cinema Barberini. More than 500 projects were submitted this year for the Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum from 80 countries worldwide (+30% of countries compared to 2022). Of these, 62 were selected (15 Animation, 18 Documentary & Factual, 14 Drama, 15 Film) from 36 countries.
The market anticipates a continued increase in international interest and attendance at the Italian event — 2022 welcomed over 2,400 participants from 60 countries (+20% compared to 2021). The 2023 edition will also offer the MIA Digital platform to allow registered attendees to access all sessions on demand.
Just one year after its debut, MIA’s Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum has achieved great results, selecting 15 projects from 24 countries. The submissions received have been evaluated by the external Selection Committee: Cecilia Padula, VP Head Kids & Family Brands South Europe, Middle East & Africa at Paramount (Italy); David Levine, Founder & CEO at Lightboat Media Ltd. (U.K.); Matthieu Darras, Founder & CEO of Tatino Film (France); Mounia Aram, Founder & Distributor of MA Company (France/Morocco); and Yago Fandiño Lousa, Head of Children’s Content at RTVE and Director of Clan TV (Spain).
The selection includes three TV Specials (one-off), three Feature Films and nine TV Series, mixing projects debuting on the market with projects already unveiled which have demonstrated solid progress in development, and are ready to be presented to financial institutions and partners as they approach production. MIA points out that these 15 projects boast reflect a strong presence of woman-led projects and diverse creative teams.
TV Specials
Award-winning director, writer and producer Anca Damian (Aparte Film) presents Motherhood, a poetic journey into female body and desire which entrusts its representation to the surreal visual world of the Italian artist Virginia Mori, co-produced by Miyu. Director and animator Angela Conigliaro (Ddraunara Studio) lands on the medium-length format with The Storm, a 2D piece telling the story of a friendship between two children against the backdrop of war, as it was for Conigliaro’s last short movie; beQ Entertainment (with RAI Kids) head the production. The third selected project comes from the award-winning Egyptian studio Giraffics, which recently produced the Stardust episode of Disney+ African anthology series Kizazi Moto: The Prey (Egypt/U.K.) is a visually compelling story of a domestic falcon whose privileged and secured lifestyle is threatened, but perhaps instead is about to know freedom.
Feature Films
From Ghana-based Afrotoon and a creative team led by Ama Adi-Dako, Ronaldo Cameron and Esther Ohrt, Drumland presents a colorful kaleidoscope of characters surrounding Afua and Kofi, twins on a journey to reverse the cruel spell of a malicious wizard, in a magical world where playing drums always has some consequences. Acceptance, friendship, self-discovery and identity connect the storylines of the other two animated features in the selection: From award-winning director and artist Magdalena Osińska. who most recently directed for Volume 2 of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Visions anthology, comes Ro, an intimate stop-motion feature, jointly producted by Animoon and Les Film du Cygne. From Mexico, filmmaker Karen Viajera makers her feature debut with The Last Wave, a 2D piece wherein four characters embark on a surreal journey on the Mexican coast.
Television Series
The 10 selected series projects present creative tales for a wide range of target audiences. Food is in the spotlight in Taste Buddies, created by Finnish director Veronica Lassenius, produced by Pikkukala (Spain/Ireland/Finland). Compelling design and adventurous storytelling with an educational twist mark the story of Mia Moké created by the Béquer brothers and produced by France’s Special Touch. The struggle between modernity and ancient worlds is at the heart of the absurd comedy series Rubharian, developed by Copenhagen Bombay (Denmark). Similar themes can be found in the story of mischievous little Prince Miniraja, developed by MondoTV (Spain/India).
Animal lovers will enjoy the sisterhood story of two pugs’ comedic struggle against their eternal feline enemy in the magical world of The Odd Adventures of Ninja & Bibby, created by Polish filmmaker Piotr Różycki for Laniakea Pictures. More critter capers feature in the world of Toink!, inhabited by bizarre creatures where some odd animals start appearing; the series is written by Bert Lesaffer and director An Vrombaut (Belgium/Netherlands). All the way from South Africa comes Troll Girl, a quirky diversity fable from creator and animator Kay Carmicheal, in which Olive, a young troll, finds herself abandoned in a human village.
The young adult audience is in focus for the sorrows of a group of nerdy teens in Highly Gifted, a coming-of-age series tackling topics such as gender, sexuality and politics. The semi-autobiographical series created by Jeremy and Daniel Leher (The Leher Brothers) is produced by Moonrise Pictures and it’s an adaptation of the Snapchat webseries, which featured a stellar voice cast including pop icon Kesha, actor Drake Bell, comedian Ron Funches, Oscar winner Nat Faxon, actor Josh Brener and comedian Jamie Curry. Doris & Betty follows the adventures of two unexpected heroines — retired working class women who have mistakenly been granted super powers, and therefore have been called to fulfil their responsibility towards the world. Adapted from Doris & Bettan Strikes by Ellen Ekman, the series is brought to the market from Scandinavian powerhouse Nordisk Film Production.
MIA, directed by Gaia Tridente, was established in 2015 and has grown as a joint venture between ANICA (Italian Association of Film, Audiovisual and Digital Industries), chaired by Francesco Rutelli, and APA (Italian Audiovisual Producers Association) chaired by Chiara Sbarigia. The event also receives support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ITA-Italian Trade Agency, with the contribution of Creative Europe MEDIA, as well as the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy and the Lazio Region.
Unicredit is the Official Sponsor. MIA 2023 also received forthe patronage of Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitisation of European cinematographic works.
Visit miamarket.it/en for more details.
