MIA 2023: The event kicks off and mixes innovation, tech, and creativity

MIA | Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo, directed by Gaia Tridente, returns to Rome from October 9-13, 2023 with over 80 events including panels, meetings, keynotes, interviews and masterclasses, 5 content showcases - all international from this year - 4 pitching forums, 50 market screenings and 11 presentations of films still in progress, 9 awards, 5 immersive virtual reality experiences, a tech hall equipped with an 8x4 metres Absen cinema curved LED screen and a sensorial carpet for virtual production demos and 2 live podcasts. 121 selected projects will be presented during the Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum and Content Showcase, with titles in development and works in progress, from 47 countries. "We did this year was really concentrating into a new expanded version of MIA," asserted Gaia Tridente.

EXTENDED PROGRAMME
MIA 2023 will be rich and wide-ranging in terms of content and curatorial research, with an ambitious and "extended" programme that combines careful study and research of the industry sector in the various format and genre categories that MIA deals with in order to transform it into a key tool for the development of the national and international market. A hotbed of discussion and confrontation for the major market players, a fundamental hub of co-production and sales, with ample potential for growth to meet the needs of the complex audiovisual ecosystem.

Among the Italian works presented at MIA 2023 content showcases, is "Sono ancora vivo" (I’m still alive), directed by Roberto Saviano, an animation project based on his autobiographical graphic novel. Animation projects also include the feature film "Fiammetta" - screenplay by Enzo D'Alò - on the story of Fiammetta and Boccaccio. For the Doc division, the directorial debut of actress Kasja Smutniak with "Walls" about the dramatic situation of migrants on the border between Poland and Belarus. In the Drama division, "Miss Fallaci", Paramount+'s first Italian original series produced by Minerva Pictures and Paramount Television International Studios, in association with RedString Pictures, starring Miriam Leone in the role of the young Oriana Fallaci; "Fireworks" by Susanna Nicchiarelli produced by Fandango and Rai Fiction. Among films, "Per amore di una donna" by Guido Chiesa produced by Colorado Film Production and Vivo film with Rai Cinema.

Among international works, the series "A Prophet", an international co-production by CPB Films and Media Musketeers Studios, co-produced by UGC, Orange Studio, Entourage Series and Savon Noir, for OCS based on the 2009 film of the same name by Jacques Audiard; the eagerly anticipated series "The Count of Monte Cristo", directed by Bille August and produced by Palomar, in collaboration with DEMD Productions, Rai Fiction and France TV. Plus the long-awaited new animation project from "Paw Patrol" creator Keith Chapman, "PaddyPaws"; and "Savages!" the new stop-motion feature from award-winning director Claude Barras. The films include "Persona non grata" by Antonin Svoboda, founder of the Austrian collective Coop99 filmproduktion, together with directors and producers Jessica Hausner and Barbara Albert; "En vigília", a debut feature by Vigília Collective, Clara Serrano Llorens and Gerard Simó Gimeno, produced by Ringo Media and moreover the third feature by Portuguese director André Gil Mata, "Sob a chama da candeia"/The Flame of a Candle.

MIA XR
The 9th Edition of MIA will be characterised by an "extension" of spaces and contents dedicated to Innovation for Creative Industries with a dedicated area - a real Tech Pavilion, and thanks to the collaboration of Mnemonica and Blackstone - it will be possible to discover VFX, Virtual Production and XR. MIA will offer a daily programme of activities including panels, showcases and masterclasses that will aim to bring all professionals interested in this new world and way of producing audiovisual content closer.

The Tech Pavilion will host Virtual Production demos every day, organised by STS and EDI, and in the areas dedicated to VR MIA delegates will be able to enjoy Virtual Reality experiences selected in collaboration with XR content partners Unifrance, Institut Francais and French Embassy, Rai Cinema and One More. Among the speakers of MIA XR conference programme, Jake Morrison, expert VFX supervisor of several films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers, Thor: Ragnarok) will present an extraordinary discussion on the global VFX market, through the analysis of his projects and techniques, and will delve into the future of high-budget VFX, between artificial intelligence and adherence to real life.

KEYNOTES AND PANELS
Over the five days of MIA 2023, among cross-cutting panels open to all genres and types of products and meetings focusing on specific topics, some of the most important professionals of the international audiovisual system will discuss the opportunities and challenges of audiovisual production and distribution. Among them, the keynote speakers of MIA 2023: Nicole Clemens, President of Paramount Television Studios (PTVS) and Paramount+ Original Scripted Series; Sara Bernstein, award-winning producer and President of Imagine Documentaries - the production company founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer; Marge Dean, Head of Skybound Entertainment's Animation Studio, Emmy winner and President of Women In Animation; Ari Folman, award-winning writer, director, producer and animator known for Waltz with Bashir; Nicholas Weinstock, Founder and President of Invention Studios, who developed and produced Apple+'s Emmy award-winning series Severance; James Townley, Chief Content Officer Development at Banijay. You can find the full programm here

MIA is today one of the main international market events dedicated to the audiovisual industry. Born in 2015 and grown thanks to well-established 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, enjoys the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ITA-Italian Trade Agency, with the contribution of Creative Europe MEDIA. MIA is also supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, and the Lazio Region.