The New Cinema Network, the Rome Film Fest’s section which sets up an efficient system to support new cinema production, will network twelve young European filmmakers – who have already made their first movie – with potential investors in order to help them get their second work financed.

The Rome Film Fest, to be held from October 13th until the 21st, therefore joins the festivals’ network – from Rotterdam to Berlin, Cannes, Hong Kong and Pusan – that supports independent filmmaking. Apart from the producers, distributors, investors and the 12 European filmmakers, several experienced directors will also attend the New Cinema Network. The International Projects will be selected in collaboration with the HAF (The Hong Kong Film Financing Forum) for the Asian filmmakers, with the support of the Unidea Foundation for the African directors and with the Atelier du Festival for a selection of projects to be selected in the frame of those presented Cannes in 2006.

 

The Jury, composed by the Oscar-Award-Winner producer Cedomir Kolar (No man’s land), the Oscar-Award-Winner producer (The Sea Within) and international distributor Simon de Santiago and the Italian producer Rosanna Seregni (Off to the Revolution in a 2CV, Persona non grata), has certified the selection of the 12 European projects that will take part in the co-production meetings. The investors will consequently meet an outstanding group of filmmakers: the Argentine-born Santiago Amigorena (director of Quelques jours en septembre, starring Juliette Binoche, John Turturro and Nick Nolte, to be shown Out of Competition in the upcoming Venice Film Festival), the English eclectic scriptwriter-illustrator-filmmaker Dave McKean (whose debut, Mirror mask, has been co-written with the renowned comic book writer Neil Gaiman); one of the most praised talents in the latest edition of the Cannes Festival, Matthias Luthardt, director of Pingpong; the Spanish directors Santiago Tabernero (whose movie Vida y color has been nominated for the Goya Awards 2006) and Inaki Arteta (Trece entre mil), the Italians Luciano Melchionna (Gas) and Giorgio Diritti (Il vento fa il suo giro). Moreover there will be also some filmmakers yet to be discovered, such as the Iceland-born Arni Oli Asgeirsson, Sergej Stanojkoski from Macedonia, Anna Jadowska from Poland, the Swede Joachim Heden and Marc De Cloe from The Netherlands. Their debut films will be shown in Rome both for the public and for the interested cinema professionals.

 

Apart from the 40 invited producers in the Rome’s New Cinema Network, several international experts in cinema production and distribution will be at disposal of the filmmakers to discuss cinema trends, new tools of film financing, project marketing and film budgeting. The Oscar-Award-Winner Gabriele Salvatores will be the special guest of the New Cinema Network to work together with the 12 European filmmakers, to give them a feedback and to share with them the problems and the choices that they have to face while developing their second projects.

 

The New Cinema Network has been conceived by Maria Teresa Cavina for the Rome Film Fest and produced by Francesco Paolo Conticello, Francesco Henderson Pepe and Lucia Milazzotto (coordinator). Sandro Di Castro is the manager of the institutional relationships.