Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan (“Mama,” “It’s the End of the World”), Marvel and Disney concept artist Andrew Leon (“Mulan,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), and French animator and director Elea Gobbe-Mevelec (“The Swallow of Kabul”) are among the mainstays of the year. Rome.
More than 100 international television series and formats, animations, feature films and documentaries at various stages of their production cycles will be pitched to hundreds of top executives at Eternal City this week, highlighting the pre-Mipcom boutique event’s growing influence.
Speaking to Variety on the eve of this year’s edition, Mia Head Gaia Tridente highlighted the “meticulous work” done by the curation team to identify market-ready projects and “bring producers, distributors and content providers together to help relevant projects emerge.”
“We generate trade and therefore serve as the cornerstone of a real industry,” Trident said. “The titles that participate in MIA do not disappear into thin air. Most of them eventually find their way (into the market). This is also thanks to the team that clearly curates and develops the projects, and the programs that are tailored to the needs and demands of the market.”
Mia Market’s seminal drama Strand, which features 15 projects from 12 countries, is headlined by the French series Rage, directed by Xavier Dolan, which charts the rise of the Parisian skinhead movement in the 1980s. Created by Anais Topra and Matthew Gouni, and produced by Manon Robilot and Latitia Quentin de Gromard’s Madelon Productions, the show blends “epic action and emotional depth” as a “bold and stylish series that can be experienced on many levels.” The six-episode series, currently in early development, will be written by Topla, Gouny and Marc Herpoux.
Other drama standouts include “Writer Retreat,” produced by Britain’s Black Box Multimedia (“The Ex-Wives,” “Home Education”) and created and written by Lindsay Shapero (“The Winter Palace”); Deadpan photography and Canadian shingles from Dublin-based “Irish Blood” producers Shaftesbury Films appear in “The Roaring Banshees,” an adaptation of the hit play by John Morton and Peter McGann that follows an all-female band of Irish rebels pursuing a life of crime in 1920s Chicago.
Meanwhile, ‘Red Light Empire’ from Dutch production group Lemming Films tells the story of a Holocaust orphan who decides to build an empire in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. The series is directed by Tim Oriehock and written by Michael Leendate and Sarah Ofringa. The Greek production heavyweight Fariro House is located in Rome and presents “Ainta!”, a shabby story about a Ghanaian immigrant in Greece chasing his dream to become a rap star. The series is created by Kevin Zans Ansong (better known as Greek-Ghanaian rapper Negros Tou Moria), Stavros Pamballis and Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos.
Among the seven feature films and nine series selected to pitch in Mia’s animation strand is “Mars of Ancient China.” It’s a sci-fi drama series from LA-based filmmaker and animator Andrew Leung, the concept artist behind Disney’s “Mulan” and Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Produced by Snarky Elephant Productions, the show is a quirky yet timely exploration of the immigrant experience told through the lens of a Chinese family running a failing restaurant on a space station orbiting Mars. The series offers a pointed metaphor for how “the American dream these days feels increasingly like a fantasy,” according to Leung.
Another expected title is “Northern Star” from French animator and director Elea Gobbe-Mevelec. His debut film “The Swallows of Kabul” premiered in 2019 at the United Nations Honors section of the Cannes Film Festival. To Gobbe-Mévellec.
Other titles in the loaded animation lineup include the adult sci-fi, action-adventure series “Argonauts,” created by Simon Duric, co-writer, co-writer and executive producer of the Netflix series “The Innocents.” Produced by Echo Lake Entertainment and Northern Irish outfit Alt Animation, the series offers a futuristic spin on the Greek mythology of Jason and the Argonauts. Also being pitched this week is “The Rejects.” This is a 10-episode series created by John McEwan-Whyte and Julie Bower that follows the most overlooked team of sidekicks in history as they try to save the world. It is produced by “Rick & Morty” producer Rick Mishel’s Emmy Award-winning Artist’s Animation Studio and McEwan-Whyte’s Scottish Animation Studio Bonnie and Braw.
Among the 12 feature films set in Rome, standouts include Fugue, a fantastic film by award-winning Irish filmmaker Ivan Cavanaugh (Never Grow Up) and the Dublin-based genre production outfit; From the film clinic of the Egyptian powerhouse comes “Draft Zero”. It follows a struggling filmmaker in Cairo who begins documenting the story of a refugee family and attempts to save their crumbling lives.
Another first-time director, Norway’s Tatiana Delaunay, presents “Summer Jesus.” It follows a guilt-ridden environmental activist as he returns to his Italian roots, where he grapples with love, grief, and cultural clashes. The film is produced by Norwegian heavyweight Thomas Robsaam. Thomas Robsaam has more than 50 acclaimed films, including Joachim Trier’s double Oscar-nominated The Worst Man in the World.
Documentary highlights at the MIA Market include “The Lawyer,” from director Maciej Bochniak and Polish production powerhouse Madants (“High Life,” “The Silent Twins”), a feature film about a brilliant young Kenyan lawyer who finds the tables turned when he comes under investigation, and “Building Venice,” a documentary series about the hidden side of the iconic Italian city, from director Katia Bernardi and the team behind the Warner Bros. Discovery Action-Doc Series “Extreme Mountain Carpenters”.
Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of the MIA Market on October 10th. Among them will be the Sony Pictures Television Award, which will be presented for the first time this year. The award honors the best drama project selected from the MIA Drama Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum, as selected by the Sony Pictures Television jury.
MIA Market in Rome will be held from October 6th to 10th.
