Rome will soon throw the spotlight on cinema and TV series: the MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo), Festa del Cinema, and Alice nella Città are presenting their latest editions, which, for once, are taking place simultaneously, allowing for greater synergy between the industry event and the two festivals.
On the market front
The MIA will hold its 12th edition in Rome from October 19 to 23. Unifrance, along with several exporters, will be present at the market.
The MIA is introducing many new features this year, with the market reorganized around five pillars: IP (books, talent, video games, XR), the co-production market and gap financing, the Buyers Club, the European Investment Hub, and a unified program for the creative industries.
As usual, the co-production market will offer individual B2B meetings, pitch coaching, and development awards by category…
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Numerous majority- or minority-French films have been selected to participate in the various co-production markets and pitching sessions:
Cinema (fiction and animation)
- After the Night / La vita dopo by Luca Maria Piccolo (Italy, France), co-produced in France by Filmo2
- Näcken by Adrien Beau, produced by Master Movies
- The March of the Sunflowers / A Marcha Dos Girassois by Erick Ricco (Brazil, France, Portugal), co-produced in France by Autour de Minuit
- Maryam & Varto by Gorune Aprikian and Luciano Lepinay (France, Armenia), co-produced in France by Tchack, Araprod and Bright Light Films
- Mancera by Khris Cembe (Spain, France, Portugal), co-produced in France by Les films de l'autre cougar
- Toute la douceur du monde by Ayce Kartal, produced by Les Valseurs
Documentary
- Ciao Italia! by Mathilde Damoisel, a Hauteville Productions production
- Salo, le dernier cri de Pasolini by Sophie Bassaler, a Wendigo Films production
- The Last Winner / L’ultimo vincente by Cristiano Gazzarini
TV series (fiction)
- Restoration, produced by Perfect Day Productions
- Tribes, produced by Incognito Films
- Monsters’ Shrink, co-produced in France by Joann Sfar's Magical Society
TV series (animation)
- Quoi d’neuf Eesha?, co-produced in France by TeamTO
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The Buyers Club aims, in particular, to serve as a bridge between the MIA, the Festa del Cinema, and Alice nella Città, providing access to the Press & Industry screenings at both festivals.
It will also once again feature the Comin'UP programs (designed for international sales agents, where buyers can view exclusive previews of scenes, clips, or trailers from films still in production), C EU Soon, dedicated to European films currently in production or post-production seeking international distribution, featuring the majority-French project Heirloom by Upamanyu Bhattacharyya and the minority-funded projects Folk Play by Mirjana Karanovic and Starseed by Anca Damian.
The European Investment Hub is a new two-day platform dedicated to financial tools in the audiovisual sector (coproduction funds, equity funds, guarantee mechanisms, insurance tools, public-private co-investment models), organized in the form of roundtable discussions bringing together investors, institutions, and industry professionals.
The IP theme, meanwhile, will take shape under the banners of Book Adaptation Forum and UNBOX | Short Film Days (a platform for discovering young talent, developed by Alice nella Città in partnership with MIA).
Last but not least, the Scenari Transalpini program—an initiative of the Institut Français Italy and Cinecittà, in partnership with the MIA, Villa Médicis and Séries Mania—returns for its third edition to foster collaboration between the French and Italian audiovisual industries by supporting the development of new works.
The following six (series) projects have been selected for the 2026 edition:
- Bad Habit - Marta Savina, Caroline Nataf, Marica Stocchi (Italy)
- Friday is for Gombo - Hamatou Compaoré, Ines Vasiljević (Italy)
- Tainted Blood - Catherine Anne McGilvray, Sara Pollice, Federico Schiavi, Carla Scicchitano (Italy)
- The Villa - Hugues Cohen, Renaud Cohen, Chiara Malta (France)
- Pentite - Denis Lima, Jimi Storck, Elizabeth Arnac (France)
- Mice - Laure Chichmanov, Jennifer Deschamps, Elodie Polo Ackermann, Camille Loiret (France)
The selected projects will benefit from a support program centered on online meetings with Italian and French professionals working in the fields of development and co-production. The teams will therefore participate in MIA, as well as in the industry meetings at Séries Mania in 2027.
-→ Toutes les informations sur le site officiel du MIA Market
Cocktail reception
Unifrance, thelAmbassade de France in Italy, 'Institut Français in Italy, and the Italian Film Commissions will jointly host a reception on Tuesday, October 20 to celebrate Franco-Italian cooperation in film and audiovisual media.
On the festival front
The Festa del Cinema (October 13–25) will take place primarily at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, which will host the main screening venues and the vast red carpet—one of the largest in the world.
Since 2022, the Festa del Cinema has included an international competition among its selections, with a jury composed of professionals from the worlds of film, culture, and the arts. Q & As with the public, events, special screenings, and tributes are also part of the program.
Notable among the French films are screenings of highly anticipated titles such as Violette by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, The Phantom of the Opera by Alexandre Castagnetti, and Un jeu dangereux by Karine Silla.
Pauline Loquès, who won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Festa del Cinema for Nino, will serve on the jury selecting the festival’s best debut film.
All the French films presented at the 20th Festa del Cinema in Rome
(majority-French films are indicated in bold)
Progressive Cinema Competition
- Closure by Michał Marczak
- Congo Boy by Rafiki Fariala
- Dua by Blerta Basholli
- Fruit Gathering by Aung Phyoe
- That's All Folks by Gustave Kervern
Best of 2026
- A Man of His Time by Emmanuel Marre
- Minotaur by Andreï Zvyaguintsev
- Fjord by Cristian Mungiu
- Ben'Imana by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
- The Beloved by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
- Orange-Flavoured Wedding by Christophe Honoré
- Fatherland by Pawel Pawlikowski
- La bola negra by Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi
Grand Public
- De Gaulle: Résistance by Antonin Baudry
- Just an Illusion by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano
- Violette by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Me, You by Bille August
- Un jeu dangereux by Karine Silla
- The Phantom of the Opera by Alexandre Castagnetti
Special Screenings
- Tin Castle by Alexander Murphy
- Alea Jacarandas by Hassen Ferhani
- Plus de bruit : Mano Negra ! by David Dufresne
- Into the Jaws of the Ogre by Mahsa Karampour
- To Hold a Mountain by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazic
- A Russian Winter by Patric Chiha
History of Cinema
- Les Films inachevés by Laurent Galinon
- Carolco, un rêve hollywoodien by Julien Dupuy and Jérémy Fauchoux
- Cinema Paradiso by Giuseppe Tornatore
- ポンヌフの恋人 by Leos Carax
- ロシュフォールの恋人たち by Jacques Demy
- Oceans by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud
- ポーラ X by Leos Carax
- The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos
Freestyle
- Pinocchio, l'enfant du monde by Paolo Borraccetti
- Fish Don't Close Their Eyes by Audrey Gordon
- Riverrun by Philippe Parreno
- Erratics by Thomas Woodroffe
- Interno familiare by Paolo Coletta
- The Oligarch and the Art Dealer by Andreas Dalsgaard
- Walking with Animators by Gilles Penso and Alice Poncet
The French films in the 2026 Alice nella Città selection
Concorso
- Iron Boy by Louis Clichy
- Butterfly Jam by Kantemir Balagov
- La Gradiva by Marine Atlan
- Gabin by Maxence Voiseux
- We Are Aliens by Kohei Kadowaki
Sintonie
Proiezioni Speciali
Onde Corte (short films)
