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”) are among the projects taking center-stage at this year’s MIA Market, which runs Oct. 6 – 10 in Rome.
More than 100 international TV series and formats, animation, feature films and documentaries in various stages of the production cycle will be pitched to hundreds of top execs this week in the Eternal City, underscoring the growing influence of the pre-Mipcom boutique event.
Speaking to Variety on the eve of this year’s edition, MIA head Gaia Tridente stressed the “meticulous work” done by her curatorial team to identify market-ready projects and “bring together producers, distributors and content providers and help relevant projects get out there.”
“We generate deals and therefore serve as a real industry cornerstone,” Tridente said. “Titles that participate at 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 curates and develops projects and a program that is aligned with market needs and demands.”
Headlining the MIA Market’s influential drama strand, 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’s Paris-based Madelon Production, the show is being pitched as a “bold, stylish series that can be experienced on many 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 standouts include “Writers Retreat,” produced by the U.K.’s BlackBox Multimedia (“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 luxurious retreat in Spain. From Dublin-based “Irish Blood” producers Deadpan Pictures and Canadian shingle Shaftesbury Films comes “The Roaring Banshees,” an adaptation of the hit play by John Morton and Peter McGann that follows an all-female band of Irish rebels who find themselves pursuing a life of crime in 1920s Chicago.
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. Greek production heavyweight Faliro House will also be in Rome to present “Aïnta!,” a rags-to-riches tale about a second-generation Greek Ghanaian immigrant chasing his dreams to become a rap star. The series is created by Kevin Zans Ansong — better known as the Greek Ghanaian rapper Negros Tou Moria — along with Stavros Pamballis and Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos.
Among the seven feature films and nine series selected to pitch in MIA’s animation strand is “Ancient China of Mars,” a sci-fi dramedy series from L.A.-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 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 is feeling 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 debut feature “The Swallows of Kabul” premiered in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section in 2019. Created with Milada Tesitelova, the film follows a 17-year-old North Korean refugee who escapes to Seoul, offering a “political, artistic and deeply human story of a young woman caught between two Koreas,” according to Gobbe-Mévellec.
Other titles in a loaded animation 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 being pitched this week is “The Rejects,” a 10-episode series created by John McEwan-Whyte and Julie Bower, which follows a team of history’s most overlooked sidekicks as they try to save the world. It’s produced by “Rick & Morty” producer Rick Mischel’s Emmy-winning Artists Animation Studio and McEwan-Whyte’s Scottish animation studio Bonnie and Braw.
Standouts among the 12 feature films taking the stage in Rome include “Fugue,” from award-winning Irish filmmaker Ivan Kavanaugh (“Never Grow Old”) and Dublin-based genre production outfit Fantastic Films, which tells a haunting tale of possession, sacrifice and eternal return told through the lens of a piano tuner forced to take shelter in a remote house during a brutal storm. From Egyptian powerhouse Film Clinic comes “Draft Zero,” a feature debut by Ahmed El Zoghby, which follows a struggling filmmaker in Cairo who begins documenting a refugee family’s story 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, grief and cultural clashes. The film is produced by Norwegian heavyweight Thomas Robsahm, who’s 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 handed out at the MIA Market’s conclusion on Oct. 10, among them 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 Drama Co-production Market & Pitching Forum, as chosen by a jury from Sony Pictures Television.
Rome’s MIA Market runs Oct. 6 – 10.
