MIA | Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo confirms its status as an incubator of excellence for contemporary cinema with three titles selected for the 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival. The films Il Cileno, Lejos de los árboles, and Alberi erranti, which participated in past editions of MIA, will hold their world premieres at the prestigious Swiss festival. This important milestone consolidates the role of the Rome-based market as a strategic global hub for the financing, development, and co-production of the international film industry.
For Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimenti, producers of Il Cileno and co-founders of the independent Italian production company dispàrte: “The MIA Market was a fundamental strategic partner, supporting us through two crucial phases. In 2023, at the Co-production Market, it gave us the opportunity to engage with international players and test the potential of the film in development. In 2025, at C EU Soon, we presented the project in post-production, revealing the first footage to the industry and festivals. We are proud of the film’s evolution, which was achieved in part thanks to these invaluable strategic events, a formula we will certainly replicate for our future projects.”
The result of an extensive production network led by dispàrte, EQUECO, and Cinédokké, the film is co-produced with RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera and SRG SSR. It is backed by the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC), Film Commission Torino Piemonte, Regione Piemonte, Ibermedia, Creative Europe MEDIA, Fondo de Fomento Audiovisual – Coproducción Minoritaria, CORFO, the Federal Office of Culture, the Republic and Canton of Ticino, and the Ticino Film Commission. International sales rights and domestic distribution have been entrusted to Fandango, which will release the film in Italian theaters starting August 27. Set in 1976, the film tells the story of Aldo Marín, a young socialist and explosives expert forced into exile from Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship. Leaving behind his wife and newborn son, he arrives and struggles to get by in a Turin torn apart by the conflicts of the Years of Lead (Anni di Piombo).
Lejos de los árboles (Far From the Trees), presented at the MIA Film Co-Production Market during the 2023 edition, is directed by Meritxell Colell Aparicio, produced by Allegra Films, and developed in co-production with Animalita and Exit Media. The film received support from the Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC), the Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (RTVE), and the Ibermedia Development Program.
Alberi erranti (Wandering Trees) was presented in 2024 within MIA’s work-in-progress section, C EU Soon. The film, directed by Salvatore Mereu, is produced by Via Col Vento and co-produced with Rai Cinema. The production boasts strategic support from the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual (DGCA) of the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC), the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, the Sardegna Film Commission, and the Province of Nuoro.
