723 accreditated professionals took part in the five-day-long Roman film market, The Business Street | Mercato Internazionale del Film, which opened on Thursday, October 15 in Via Veneto. Market venues included the Terrace at the Hotel Bernini Bristol; the Spazio Cinema at the Hotel Majestic, where conferences were held; the Casa del Cinema, the Levi’sҭov, and the Green House at the Auditorium.

The figures for the 2009 edition are further proof that the International Rome Film Festival has come up with a winning formula for TBS: a privileged setting for producers, distributors, and all film professionals to meet, debate, share their experiences, and do business, with a special focus on Europe.

In the face of an economic climate adversely affected by a financial crisis that is far from over, which has seen all the markets suffering, The Business Street is growing, with an increase in the number of countries represented and a 16% rise in the number of accredited participants compared to 2008. All the indicators that follow point to an upward trend:

– 280 buyers – (260 in 2008; 250 in 2007; 160 in 2006)
– 90 sellers (from 14 countries) – (97 in 2008; 60 in 2007)
– 250 producers at both TBS and NCN and 103 institutional participants (Media, film commissions, film programmers and others)
– 125 films featured for a total of 177 TBS screenings (153 in 2008; 142 in 2007 and 130 in 2006)
– 44 market premieres
– 12 international workshops organized
– 32 Italian films presented at TBS (24 in 2008)
– 67 films available at the video libraries (Hotel Bernini, Hotel Majestic), (90 in 2008; 83 in 2007)
– 19 titles + 1 teaser at Italian Screenings,
– 51 countries, 18 more than in 2008
– List of countries represented at TBS and NCN: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia – Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, South Korea, Denmark, Arab Emirates, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.K., Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Hungary, and Uzbekistan (countries topping the list with the most accredited participants were France, Germany, Spain, the UK, Argentina, as well as Italy, of course).

La Fabbrica dei Progetti | NCN

– 950 co-production meetings
– 8 NCN Lab workshops (Ministry of Youth Affairs) at the Casa del Cinema
– 30 filmmakers
– 26 projects, selected from 16 countries
– 124 producers and 10 distributors from 30 countries (18 Italian producers)
– 18 screenings of filmmakers’ first films at the Casa del Cinema
– 27 European institutions attending
– 3 of the films selected for the Rome Film Festival were first NCN projects:
o L’uomo che verrà (The Man Who Will Come) by Giorgio Diritti was a project presented at NCN in 2006. Competing in Rome in 2009, it won the Silver Marc’Aurelio Jury Award, the Golden Marc’Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film — BNL, and the La Meglio Gioventù Prize for Best Film sponsored by the Ministry of Youth Affairs.
o Simon Konianski by Micha Wald and Life in One Day by Mark De Cloe, selected for Extra 2009, were first NCN projects, in 2007 and 2006 respectively.

Roberto Cicutto, Director of The Business Street, observes: “The film market’s success shows that the shared commitment by TBS and NCN to give co-productions a significant European dimension has paid off. These figures are a stimulus to continue this winning strategy, which naturally involves the entire international film industry.
“We hope that the proposals, projects, and achievements that have emerged from our five-day event will help the next edition of our market to keep on growing.”

THE BUSINESS STREET BUZZ: FEEDBACK, DEALS & NEGOTIATIONS

Adriana Chiesa di Palma, Adriana Chiesa Enterprises, Italy
“We found the organization of the event to be excellent; the distributors are top-tier, and this year we had the opportunity to dialogue with new Korean, Russian, and Chinese distributors. It was easy to do business and we made sales.”

Paola Corvino, Intramovies, Italy
“As far as Intramovies is concerned, our participation in Italian Screenings, for the latest Italian films,, and in The Business Street, for other titles represented,was a success, in terms of the number of buyers taking part and the warm reception of the films themselves.
“We have started preliminary talks for all the films screened or presented in the video libraries.
L’UOMO CHE VERRA’ (The Man Who Will Come)
VIOLA DI MARE (Sea Purple)
MARPICCOLO
IL CASO DELL’INFEDELE KLARA (The Case of Unfaithful Klara)
GIULIA NON ESCE LA SERA (Giulia Doesn’t Date at Night)
BOLLYWOOD HERO
In particular, we are in advanced negotiations with France, Spain, Japan, the Netherlands, Argentina, and the U.S.A.”

Andrea Occhipinti, Lucky Red distribuzione, Italy
In Rome Lucky Red sealed the deal to buy BROTHERHOOD by Nicolo Donato, which screened in competition at the Rome Film Festival this year and won the Golden Marc’Aurelio Jury Award for Best Film.

Carla Cattani, Cinecittà-Luce -Filmitalia
“It was definitely the right time and the right place for the fifth edition of Italian Screenings. The market dedicated to Italian cinema benefited from the organization of industry events by TBS as well as the launch of new Italian productions presented at the Rome Film Festival; these films, along with the films recently showcased at the Venice Film Festival, are the titles with the greatest international appeal in the second half of the year. The screenings arranged for Italian screenings could count on an impressive turnout of buyers and industry professionals, whose presence made the experience highly worthwhile and significant, and we hope it will become consolidated in the years to come.”

Sesto Cifola, RAI Trade
“I hope that TBS continues to grow and gets more space, with this same informality, no stands, and fabulous locations that facilitate chance encounters, which are the real opportunity that all the leading markets depend on. We did some great deals, and the clients were happy – a winning formula all around.

“By now, we’ve come to think of TBS as an appointment on the industry calendar in the latter part of the year that most international film distributors simply wouldn’t want to miss. In fact, we noticed on this occasion that the participants invited to attend were joined by other companies that chose to take part on their own initiative. I’m convinced that the informal, unstructured formula for the market is the secret of its success, and so I tend to think that the atmosphere at the Bernini Bristol is going to become more and more like what you get in the halls of the Majestic on the Croisette, or at the Sutton Place in Toronto.”

Rai Trade has sold ALZA LA TESTA by Alessandro Angelini in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, and Australia, and is in negotiations for Germany, France, and Brazil.
DIECI INVERNI (Ten Winters) by Valerio Mieli has been sold in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and negotiations are underway for France, Japan, Argentina, and Taiwan.
BARBAROSSA by Renzo Martinelli has been sold in the former Soviet republics, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands, and Lebano
n and the Middle East, and negotiations are underway for Greece, Korea, China, Israel, Germany and Austria, and Brazil and Latin America.
For LE OMBRE ROSSE by Francesco Maselli negotiations are underway for France, Switzerland, and Belgium.
Although EX by Fausto Brizzi had already been presented at other markets over the course of the year, in Rome more sales were formalized that add to the numerous territories already ceded, such as Puerto Rico and Hong Kong, and negotiations are underway for Scandinavia, Colombia, and Greece.

Cifola continues: “We have also started negotiations on important films now in post-production, since we had the opportunity to show rushes to our clients attending the Rome market. Those films include GORBACIOF, Il Cassiere col vizio del gioco, by Stefano Incerti, starring Toni Servillo (which will be ready in early 2010).We’re about to enter into serious negotiations for France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Brazil.”

Frederick Tsui, Media Asia Group, Hong Kong
“I came to the fourth edition and found The Business Street more organized and efficient. At one time it was only for the beautiful city of Rome, however, now with the crisis and with many people not attending the AFM, The Business Street is the only place for me where I can meet European industry executives”.

Nicole Mackey, Fortissimo Film Sales, the Netherlands
“I find that there’s harmony between the markets. Since everybody works efficiently, there is a continuous flow. Rome is part of a circuit where something that starts in Toronto or San Sebastian comes to conclusion here or at the AFM”.

Joy Wong, The Works International, UK
“Rome is important for meeting European buyers that do not attend the AFM often. Meetings on the terrace are very important”.

Thierry Decourcelle, TF1 International, France
“It’s a great place for meeting foreign companies. The structure is always very efficient and positive. The Business Street has an informal vibe that favours relaxed meetings that come today organically. And these types of meetings are usually the most productive”.

Bernardo Bergeret, INCAA, Argentina
I am a veteran of The Business Street and for Argentinean distributors this is something that cannot be missed for relations with the Italian market. […] thanks to the market, last year we produced El Artista.

Alfredo Calvino, Latino Fusion, Mexico
“I find the concept of the Hotel Bernini Bristol Terrace and the informality to be some of the very positive things about The Business Street. The market has been a great surprise. For a vendor like me to be able to meet with participants from France, Argentina, and Japan, Rome represents a valid alternative, inheriting some of the activities of Mifed”

Oi Leng Lui, Av Pictures Limited, UK
“I found the market to be an excellent pre-AFM opportunity to talk to some of the big European buyers about our new upcoming projects before Los Angeles – it was also more cost effective than doing individual country trips (to Paris / Berlin / Munich / Rome / Milan) since many of the buyers were in Rome.
As for actual business done, I did a sale to a Taiwanese distributor for one of our projects”

Klaus Rasmussen, Bavaria Film International, Germany
“I very much enjoyed the Rome business Street. A lot of potential buyers where present and it was a good occasion to present our films. […] I made 2 deals in Rome with clients from Latin-America. […]. I also had time to present our films coming up for AFM and Berlin and expect to close further deals on this already at AFM.”

Gilles Sousa, Bac Films, France
“Hidden Diary by Julie Lopes-Curval has been sold to Japan to Alcine Terran; and also in Taiwan to Khan Entertainment.”

Claiton Fernandes, California Filmes, Brazil
In Rome he bought Mao’s Last Dancer (sold by Celluloid Dreams) and Cell 211 (sold by Films Distribution) for Latin American territories.

Kanae RAI , Taiwa Inc./Cinema Rise, Japan
“It was a pleasure attending. […] there was no stress for meeting people. We found that the films screened at the Business Street were stronger than last year”.

Bruce D. Lee, Entermode Corp., South Korea
“[…] it’s been a great market (actually one of my best) very effective, well organized.

NEW CINEMA NETWORK BUZZ: FEEDBACK

Cyriac Auriol, Les Films du Requin, France
“I was really pleased to attend the NCN again this year, it is really becoming one of the most perfectly organized co-production markets I have attended : good quality projects, good meeting scheduling, good flexibility, human size, good accommodation.”

Antoine Simkine, Les Films d’Antoine, France
“It was really good, my meetings were very interesting and I’m following up with most of them.”

Gabrielle Dumon, Le Bureau, France
“..another very good edition of the NCN – even better if I may, since I thought the projects were of very high quality in general this year.”

Mark Irmer, Dolce Vita Films, France
“Professional organization in a relaxed atmosphere with passionate directors and projects have made this efficient business event a delightful moment for me.”

Stefan Arsenijevic winner of the Levi’sÒ NCN Best European Project Award for “No One’s Child”, Bosnia-Herzegovina
“It was simply perfect!”

Pablo Fendrik (project: The Ardor) Argentina
“I can do nothing but recommend NCN as a top meeting point for projects and producers.”

Brigitte Bertele (project: Resurfaced), Germany
“We had a lot of very inspiring and exciting talks with interested producers from many different countries and I think we will definitely start working together with some of them.”

Peter Bouckaert, EYEWORKS FILM & TV DRAMA, Belgium
“It was a nice, vibrating, stimulating and interesting experience. Well organized, good quality of the meeting.”

Marisa Fernández Armenteros, Mediapro, Spain
“It has been a good strategy to explain the project and share the feedback with different partners from different countries. Thanks to this experience, we could advance in the development.”

The Business Street and New Cinema Network are directed by Roberto Cicutto and coordinated by Diamara Parodi, Sylvain Auzou, and Lucia Milazzotto.

The Business Street and New Cinema Network are produced by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, with the support of the MEDIA Programme as well as, for the fourth straight year, MIBAC, the Lazio Region, the Rome Chamber of Commerce, the Lazio Development Agency, the Ministry of Economic Development, and ICE.

This project has been made possible thanks to its sponsors Anica, Hotel Bernini Bristol, Hotel Majestic, Rai Cinema, Rai Trade, and thanks to the collaboration of partners Cinecittà Luce Filmitalia, UNEFA, Eurimages, Media Desk Italia, Media Consulting Group, the Rome and Lazio Film Commission, and Filas.