New projects from Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan (“Mommy,” “It’s Only the End of the World”), Marvel and Disney concept artist Andrew Leung (“Mulan,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and French animator and director Eléa Gobbe-Mévellec (“The Swallows of Kabul.” in Rome.
More than 100 international television series and formats, animation, feature films and documentaries at various stages of the production cycle will be presented to hundreds of top executives this week in the Eternal City, highlighting the growing influence of the pre-MIPCOM boutique event.
Talk to Variety On the eve of this year’s edition, Mia Head Gaia Tridentte highlighted the “meticulous work” done by her curation team to identify market-ready projects and “bring together producers, distributors and content providers and help relevant projects get released.”
“We generate deals and therefore serve as a cornerstone of the real industry,” Tridentte said. “Titles that participate in Mia don’t disappear into thin air, most of them eventually find their way [into the market]. This is also thanks to a team that clearly organizes and develops projects and a program aligned with the needs and demands of the market. »
Headlining the MIA market’s influential drama, which features 15 projects from 12 countries, is the French series “Rage,” directed by Xavier Dolan, which charts the rise of the Skinhead movement in 1980s Paris. Created by Anaïs Topla and Mathieu Gouny and produced by Manon Robillot and Laetitia Quentin de Gromard, Paris-based Madelon’s production, the series is billed as a “bold, elegant series that can be experienced on multiple levels” while blending “spectacular action with emotional depth.” The six-episode series, currently in early development, will be written by Topla, Gouny and Marc Herpoux.
Other drama stands include “Writers Retreat,” produced by the U.K.’s Multimedia Blackbox (“The Ex-Wife,” “Home Education”) and written and created by Lindsay Shapero (“Winter Palace”), which follows the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of a guest at a luxury retreat in Spain. From Dublin “Irish Blood” producers Deadpan Pictures and Canadian Shaftes Shaftesbury Films comes “The Roaring Banshees,” an adaptation of the hit play by John Morton and Peter McGann that follows an entirely provisional group of Irish rebels who find themselves pursuing a life of crime in the 1920s.
Meanwhile, “Red Light Empire,” from Dutch production group Lemming Film, tells the story of a Holocaust orphan determined to build an empire in Amsterdam’s red light district. The series is directed by Tim Oliehoek and written by Michael Leendertse and Sarah Offringa. The heavy production of the Greek production Falio will also be in Rome to present “Aïnta!” The series is created by Kevin Zans Ansong – better known as Greek rapper Negros Tou Moria – along with Stavros Pamballis and Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos.
Among the seven features and nine series selected to debut in Mia’s animated strand is “Ancient China of Mars,” a sci-fi drama series from Los Angeles-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 an offbeat but timely exploration of the immigrant experience, told through the lens of a Chinese family who runs a failing restaurant on an orbiting space station. The series offers a pointed metaphor for how “the American dream these days feels more and more like a fantasy,” according to Leung.
Another anticipated title is “The Northern Star,” from French animator and director Eléa Gobbe-Mévellec, whose feature debut “The Swallows of Kabul” appeared in the UN section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Korea,” according to Gobbe-Mévellec.
Other titles in a busy animated lineup include “Argonauts,” an adult, sci-fi, action-adventure series created by Simon Duric, the co-creator, co-writer and executive producer of the Netflix series “The Innocents,” starring Guy Pearce. Produced by Echo Lake Entertainment and Northern Ireland outfit ALT Animation, the series offers a futuristic spin on the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. Also premiering this week is “The Rejects,” a 10-episode series created by John McEwan-Whyte and Julie Bower, which follows the team of history’s most overlooked sidekicks as they try to save the world. It is produced by Anims Artists’ animation studio Anims and McEwan-Whyte’s Scottish animation studio and Bonnie, McEwan-Whyte’s Scottish animation studio.
Standouts among the 12 features taking the stage in Rome include “Fugue,” from award-winning Irish filmmaker Ivan Kavanaugh (“Never Game Old”) and the Dublin-based genre production outfit, which tells a haunting tale of possession, sacrifice and eternal return told through Piano’s Brital Tempor. From the Egyptian powerhouse Film Clinic comes “Draft Zero,” a feature debut from Ahmed El Zoghby, which follows a struggling filmmaker in Cairo who begins documenting the story of a refugee family to save his crumbling life.
Another first-time director, Norway’s Tatiana Delaunay, will present “Summer of Jesus,” which follows a guilt-ridden environmental activist’s return to her Italian roots, where she grapples with love, heartbreak and cultural clashes. The film is produced by Norwegian heavyweight Thomas Robsahm, who is credited for more than 50 films, including Joachim Trier’s double Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person 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.”
Awards will be presented at the conclusion of the MIA Market on October 10, including the Sony Pictures Television Award, which will be presented for the very first time this year. The award will honor the best drama project selected from the Mia Theater Co-Production Co-Production Forum and Pitching Forum, as chosen by a Sony Pictures Television jury.
The MIA market in Rome takes place from October 6 to 10.
