ITALIAN SCREENS, the festival presenting the best of Italian movies abroad, with a programme of high artistic and cultural value, is organized upon the initiative of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), Cinecittà for the Directorate General of Cinema and Audiovisuals of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MiC) and the Italian Film Academy – David di Donatello Award.
After the first dates scheduled in Miami and Atlanta (7-9 October 2022), the initiative will arrive in India from 12 to 15 October 2022: at the centre of the festival there will be 6 movies nominated for the David di Donatello, an award created by the Italian Film Academy in 1955 with the aim of paying tribute to the best Italian and foreign movies released each year. The Festival will be inaugurated on 12 October in New Delhi by the special screening – in the gardens of the Italian Embassy – of Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore, about legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.
All screenings will take place simultaneously, until 15 October, at the PVR cinemas in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and at the historic New Empire cinema in Calcutta, in the presence of institutional representatives and some of the most famous artists of Indian cinema. The films on the programme, which will be screened in Italian with English subtitles, include Il Buco by Michelangelo Frammartino, Sulla giostra by Giorgia Cecere, Qui rido io by Mario Martone, L’Arminuta by Giuseppe Bonito and Ariaferma by Leonardo di Costanzo.
The initiative is part of a broader project to deepen cultural relations between Italy and India, organised by Cinecittà for the DGCA-MiC in order to bring Bollywood closer and to encourage opportunities for meetings between both countries’ producers, distributors and creatives.
Ambassador Lorenzo Angeloni, Director General for Country Promotion (MAECI), said: “The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has always regarded the strategic value of audiovisuals as one of the best ways of telling the Made in Italy story abroad and promoting Italian excellence. We have therefore decided to enhance the festival Italian Screens in India as a moment of celebration of the extraordinary Nation branding Campaign be IT, with special promotional events linked to the screenings in the four Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore. The be IT campaign, launched in November last year, promotes – through digital and social tools – a new way of representing Italian excellence and Made in Italy. This occasion with Cinecittà and our Diplomatic-Consular Network is an important showcase of great profile vis-à-vis the Indian public“.
Roberto Stabile, Head of Special Projects of the MiC DGCA-MiC at Cinecittà, commented: “It is a project strongly desired by the DGCA-MiC and entrusted to Cinecittà, which finally implements the sometimes abused concept of “working as a system” and makes the oft-quoted “cultural diplomacy” a reality. In the framework of the support activities for the internationalisation of our audiovisual industry, the aim of this action is to put in place the collaboration between the widespread diplomatic and consular network, the prestige of the Italian Film Academy – David di Donatello Award, and the excellences of the national audiovisual industry, so as to promote Italian movies at gala events specifically organised in some of the most important and iconic cities in the world. At the same time, we will hold “business-oriented” events during which we will present all the benefits that Italy offers to foreign operators to co-produce, shoot or distribute our movies in cinemas abroad, thus combining cultural and commercial promotion. The project, which kicks off in many locations, will see a tenfold increase in initiatives and events on all continents over the next two years.”
President and Artistic Director Piera Detassis stated: “The Italian Film Academy – David di Donatello Award is honoured to be a partner of the Italian Screens initiative, which emphasises and enhances the work of search, support and selection of the best Italian movies carried out throughout the year and culminating in David di Donatello Award ceremony. It is currently crucial to support our talents and spread our film culture and its cultural specificity abroad. I believe that Italian Screens best interprets one of the Academy’s important missions, namely educating new audiences, under the banner of the widest inclusion“.
Italian Screens is a fundamental opportunity to introduce the protagonists of Italian cinema abroad, to create an audience that appreciates the great productions of the moment, but also to present to local operators the best of what the Italian audiovisual system can offer in order to stimulate co-productions, the growth of our industry’s professional quality and the internationalisation of our cinema. The event is also an important networking opportunity to enable industry operators to get in touch with those who can best illustrate the programme of incentives at a national and regional level to support production for those shooting in Italy.
After India, the busy calendar of Italian Screens events will include Los Angeles, from 31 October to 2 November, Sao Paulo from 4 November and Berlin from 8 to 13 November. Later, the festival will continue until 2023 all over the world, from Buenos Aires to Washington, New York, Seoul, Tel Aviv and Bogotà.
