Rome’s MIA Market revs its engines

We’re just a few days away from the start of the 10th edition of Rome’s MIA Market, one of Italy’s largest industry events, set to run from 14 to 18 October. Once again, the iconic Palazzo Barberini and its picturesque Renaissance-style surroundings will host the five-day gathering, welcoming over 2,000 filmmakers, producers, distributors, broadcasters, and financiers from Europe and beyond. In this article, we will take a closer look at this year’s Nordic presence at the market, unfolding in the heart of the Italian capital.

Day 1 will kick off with the opening press conference and the CEE Animation Lab, led by Alessandra Principini, fundraiser of Italy’s Movimenti Production, and Pablo Jordi, CEO and co-founder of Finnish-Spanish studio Pikkukala. During a dedicated panel slated for 16 October, Jordi will also delve into the success story of Samuel, a teen and pre-teen-orientated show co-produced with Les Valseurs, ARTE, RTVE, and Televisió de Catalunya.

On Day 2, MIA will host the first sessions of the Doc Pitching Forum. In this strand, two Nordic projects will be showcased.

The first is Black Carbon – Native Science, a co-production between Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Canada, spearheaded by ravir film GbR. The doc tells the story of an Inuit scientist’s work and discoveries about microplastics in the Greenland ice and other oceans.

The second doc, titled Homesick (Slægt) and directed by Tanja In Wol Sørensen, is a co-production between Denmark and South Korea, led by Tambo Film and TV2. It follows the helmer’s dysfunctional upbringing as an adoptee in a small Danish town. After the deaths of her adoptive parents, she sets out to uncover the many secrets related to her adoption and upbringing.

In the afternoon, Maipo Film producer Synnøve Hørsdal will take part in the talk “The Creatives: A Collective Force in Motion” with Carole Scotta, Mike Goodridge, Leontine Petit, and Roman Paul. The discussion will take stock of the first three years of the alliance, touching on the EU-backed writer-producer workshop series entering its second edition next year and, more broadly, what the future holds for the group.

Next, the “EBU Proud to Present Fiction” event will showcase the finest drama productions from European public service media, featuring both recent releases and upcoming projects. In particular, the event will include two sessions featuring a curated selection of outstanding recent and forthcoming European public service fiction series for adults. Two Nordic projects are part of this year’s official selection: NRK’s So Long, Marianne and SVT’s Pressure Point (Smärtpunkten).

The “Professional Training Labels Outlook” event will follow, described by MIA’s catalogue as “a journey through Europe’s leading institutions and organisations that support development and offer advanced training for audiovisual professionals”, focused on “exploring the most innovative programmes and initiatives in support of production”. Head of the European Writers Club (EWC), Thomas Gammeltoft, will join the conversation with Marianne Guillon of Series Mania, Nathalie Scholten of ACE Producers, Barbora Struss, CEO of the Midpoint Institute, and seasoned Finnish film and TV expert Petri Kemppinen, who moderates and devises EAVE AI Skills Booster workshops.

On Day 3, the Doc Hosted session, organised in collaboration with Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days, Bio to B, DocsBarcelona, and the Institute of Documentary Film, will shine a spotlight on Swedish feature The Other Gaza, helmed by Swedish-based Palestinian filmmaker Wafa Jamil and staged by Multimedia Production and Sard Films AB. The doc, which scooped the Sunny Side of the Doc prize at the Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days, promises to be a deeply personal film exploring how occupation is affecting the filmmaker’s relationship with her family.

Meanwhile, executive producer Miki Mistrati of Denmark’s Snowman Production will take part in a talk titled “Future Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Audiovisual Production”. The debate, moderated by Erik Barmack, will see the participation of Radek Wegrzyn, Dariusz Jabloński, Ariens Damsi, and Christina Caspers-Roemer. Organised by Italy’s Creative Europe Desk, it will offer a global perspective on AI, covering the entire production value chain, from the development stages to pre-production, shooting, VFX, and post-production services.

EWC head Thomas Gammeltoft will also moderate the talk “Bridging Generations: Connecting Audiences. European Writers Club Open Call”, which will focus on EWC’s new call for projects. The other confirmed speakers are writers Cristiana Farina and Samya Hafsaoui, NRK Head of Drama Marianne Furevold-Boland, and EWC creative producers Filson Ali and Basel Mawlawi.

Other notable Nordic speakers taking part in Day 3 sessions include Danish visual effects and virtual production producer Mikael Windelin (hosting the masterclass “Best Practices for Virtual Production”), YLE’s Senior Executive in Charge of International Co-Productions and Acquisitions for the Children and Youth division Vicky Schroderus (set to take part in the panel “Is Creating Programmes Re-Inventing the Recipe Each Time?”), Media Res Head of International Lars Blomgren, and Nordisk Film VP International Financing & Co-Productions Marike Muselaers (two of the speakers invited to the “Future-Proofing Content: Strategies for Global Success” talk).

On Day 4, Josefin Tengblad, co-founder and producer of Sweden’s Nordic Drama Queens, will be attending the “Unlocking Potential: IP vs. Original Series Storytelling” panel alongside Sony Pictures Television Studios’ Lauren Stein, Miramax’s Marc Helwig, Palomar’s Nicola Serra, and TOP’s Emmanuelle Bouilhaguet. These top creatives and execs will delve into the benefits, challenges, and market dynamics that influence their choices, spanning leveraging established fan bases, taking creative risks with original stories, and navigating the complexities of modern storytelling and audience engagement. In the afternoon, TriArt Distribution CEO Eva Esseen will explore “New Paths for Independent Film Distribution” with Robert Aaronson, Valerio Carocci, Eve Gabereau, and Agathe Valentin.

Finally, Day 5 will host GreenLit, MIA’s international drama series showcase, and an exclusive platform to unveil the most anticipated Italian and international scripted titles for TV and streamers. The first of the two selected Nordic shows is Reykjavik Fusion, recently boarded by ARTE and produced by Iceland’s ACT4, a new firm launched by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Hörður Rúnarsson, Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson, and Birkir Blær Ingólfsson. The 6x52 series tells the story of a talented chef who attempts to clear his name and win back his family after his wrongful imprisonment. As society turns its back on the ex-convict, his last resort is to accept dirty money to set up a fine-dining restaurant and run a money-laundering operation to pay it back – not only putting his parole in jeopardy, but also his own life and those of the ones he loves. Wild Sheep Content is in charge of its distribution.

The second drama series, commissioned by NRK, is titled Henki, and centres on the true story of Henki Hauge Karlsen, a gay bartender who is fired after disclosing his HIV illness to his employer. The story, set in 1980s Oslo, sees the 28-year-old man cruelly labelled as “the face of the gay plague”, and fighting for his job and for his dignity. The producers are Klynge AS and Scanbox Productions.