The Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present to the international film industry a selection of 14 feature film projects from 10 countries: Belgium, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Nigeria, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan.
The members of the selection committee are available on the Project Selection 2024 page.
Among the selected projects, 10 are debut or sophomore films, demonstrating MIA’s long-standing commitment to new voices and emerging talent.
These are the selected projects: with BORDERLINE, Yves Piat, building on his multi-award-winning short Nefta Football Club (nominated for the Oscars and the prestigious César awards), tells a story set in the southern Tunisian desert, with tones between comic and noir. The story explores the concept of borders, not only in geographical terms but also in moral ones.
Juliet Ellis’s second work, BRAIDS, is a coming-of-age story that delicately touches on themes of identity, belonging, and loss through the friendship of two black girls who, against the backdrop of contemporary England, struggle to find their place in the world.
How could two National Police officers go so far as to commit a quadruple murder? And, most importantly, why? DEATH IN YOUR EYES, Guillermo de Oliveira’s debut, draws on the childhood memory of a famous news case to explore the dynamics of power at various levels in a world where violence and money are the only currencies in circulation.
PLEASURE by Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devilliers explores contemporary sexuality and its hidden facets: a single mother working in sexual health prevention finds herself at risk of HIV infection. Between casual encounters and reconnections with an HIV-positive ex-lover, she must confront the delicate balance between personal and professional life.
Carlo S. Hintermann—whose debut film The Book of Vision opened the Critics’ Week in Venice in 2020, with Terrence Malick as executive producer—sets in Venice FISH, a story with echoes of Stephen King’s imagery and a Lynchian protagonist: Professor Osborne is turning into a fish, and his students have discovered his incredible secret.
Inspired by a real figure, Egypt’s first transgender actress, with IS THIS ALL OF YOU?, director Roshdy Ahmed tells the story of Amal, a journalist determined to shed light on a controversial actress’s death, about which the mainstream press has deliberately chosen to remain silent.
With MIDNIGHT INN, director Chun Hong Wang draws inspiration from his personal experience: in Taipei, a young night porter watches life pass by. In a hotel that becomes a microcosm of urban existence – between enigmatic guests and colleagues in crisis – lives intersect and diverge, reflecting the existential struggle of those seeking meaning in a suspended world.
MISGIVING by Eitan Anner, a multi-awarded author whose films have participated in many international festivals, tells a story of loss, faith, and the search for truth. The mysterious death of a brilliant Nigerian Islamic student in the laboratory of an Israeli neuroscientist triggers a deep moral crisis for the latter, torn between faith, science, and justice.
Already a screenwriter for internationally successful series (including Gomorrah, Django, ZeroZeroZero, and The Kollective), Maddalena Ravagli makes her directorial debut with THE PLACE OF ETERNAL SUMMER: three Sicilian summers mark the growth of Leo/Indigo and Tore, two boys from different worlds but united by an unbreakable bond. They will try to save not only their own lives but also their future, in a context where family, social, and gender expectations seem already written.
When Eugenio Montale receives the news of his Nobel Prize, his life changes in an instant. Thus begins a journey from Milan to Stockholm, with the faithful caregiver Gina, through old memories and lost loves that reveal the immortal soul of the poet, on the verge of his final consecration. Directed by Duccio Chiarini and co-written with Ugo Chiti, THE POET AND THE BLACKBIRD is an intimate comedy whose contemporary language makes us reflect on the meaning of life, love, and how poetry can make feelings more immortal than real life.
SO THE LOVERS COULD COME OUT AGAIN by George Peter Barbari is a story of love and resilience among the ruins of war: in an Italy devastated by conflict, soldiers Ethan and Simon find refuge in a dilapidated house. An impulsive kiss will crack and then strengthen their connection, and the two will have to face the reality of their future as peace approaches.
In addition to the international selection, for the fifth year, the Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum presents WANNA TASTE IT?, a section dedicated exclusively to Italian film projects in development and a launching and growth platform for the Italian industry and talent, thanks to networking organized with potential co-producers, sales agents and financiers and high-level training and updating opportunities through targeted meetings with industry experts, representatives of institutions, and funds.
Three projects have been selected this year: ANIMAL RESISTANCE, directed by Marco Serrecchia and produced by Michelangelo Frammartino’s company, narrates the evolution of human-animal relationships over four centuries, focusing on the animals and their behaviors to tell stories of resistance and adaptation.
DREAMCATCHERS by Daniela De Francesco is set in a sleep disorder clinic, where the friendship between Luis and Aleksandr is put to the test during a dangerous pharmaceutical experiment that threatens to compromise one’s career and the other’s health.
Finally, PARADISE STAIRS by Antimo Campanile tells the story of Ugo, a 15-year-old boy from the Spanish Quarters of Naples, who, in a context of social degradation, desperately searches for his identity through odd jobs and criminal acts, leading to an inevitably tragic outcome.
FILM CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM | OFFICIAL SELECTION 2024
BORDERLINE (France)
Produced by Les Valseurs
BRAIDS (UK)
Produced by Public Display of Affection Films
DEATH IN YOUR EYES (Spain)
Produced by Sétima / Sideral Cinema
FISH (Italy, Belgium)
Produced by Citrullo International / Indiana Production / Frakas Productions
IS THIS ALL OF YOU? (Egypt, Canada, USA)
Produced by 8 Minutes Films / Snarky Elephant Productions
MIDNIGHT INN (Taiwan)
Produced by Volos Films
MISGIVING (Israel, Nigeria)
Produced by Binnenhof Productions / RMA Productions
PLEASURE (Belgium)
Produced by Naoko Films / Wrong Men
SO THE LOVERS COULD COME OUT AGAIN (Lebanon, Italy, UK, France)
Produced by BTRSWT Pictures / Palosanto Films / Caspian Films / Georges Films
THE PLACE OF ETERNAL SUMMER / LA TERRA DELL’ESTATE (Italy)
Produced by Moontrip / Tramp
THE POET AND THE BLACKBIRD / IL POETA E LA BADANTE (Italy)
Produced by BIM Produzione – a Wild Bunch Company
WANNA TASTE IT
ANIMAL RESISTANCE / RESISTENZA ANIMALE (Italy)
Produced by Doppio Nodo Double Bind
DREAMCATCHERS (Italy)
Produced by The Piranesi Experience
PARADISE STAIRS / SALITA PARADISO (Italy)
Produced by D4FILM
For more information on the Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum projects, register for MIA 2024 to have access to the MIA Digital platform.
