A few weeks ago, in an interview with an Italian newspaper the republicThe director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, spoke of a possible crisis in the Italian film industry if quantity continues to be valued at the expense of quality.
” [Italian] Films selected by us [this year] Excellent, in some cases excellent. However, I don’t feel like there’s been an investment in overall quality,” Barbera said. “The number of products this year [is] It’s impressive compared to our market and the platforms’ capabilities to appeal to them.”
Making 250 feature films a year, as Italy will do in 2021, is a level of production “that’s in the 1960s,” Barbera said. The industry must “prioritize quality” over quantity.
But if it can be said that too many Italian films are made, of course very few people go to see them. Italy’s box office hasn’t recovered from the COVID slump, and Italian films, in particular, have struggled to find an audience.
Although the studios’ titles were filling them – Universal’s animated hit Minions: The Rise of Gru It made around $10 million in Italy after just two weeks of release – most local movies have issues.
Some of the leading figures in the Italian film industry met Thursday in Venice to discuss the causes and possible solutions to the country’s film “crisis”.
Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Italian film giant Rai Cinema, argued that cinemas and online streaming platforms also “need to work together” to solve the problem. After acknowledging that platforms “allowed our market to grow”, he said it was time to “rethink cinemas”.
Nicola Maccanico, CEO of Italian production center Cinecittà, suggested that streaming platforms do their part to protect cinemas “because they know that cinemas, as a place and experience, are important to everyone”. However, the industry should focus on bringing audiences back to theaters, he said. “It’s enough, as sometimes happens, just inviting people back.”
“We need clear rules to protect cinemas. We cannot forget that in our country, cinema has always been a talent laboratory”, added Giampaolo Letta, CEO of Medusa Film, a major Italian producer/distributor. He called for simplification of film subsidy rules in Italy and “tools to better control allocated resources”.
For Marta Donzel, president of the Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italian cinema needs to do more to connect with young people. “We have to reach out to young people,” he said.[teach them how] Read cinematic images, recognize their value and meaning. Haste is the great enemy of quality.”
Cinema is a great resource for the film and broadcast industries, said Francesco Rutelli, president of the national audiovisual association ANICA. But the focus should be on what the audience wants. “It is in the interest of everyone, of our country [the film] The industry is back on center stage,” Rutel said. “The question that no one asks to this day is another: what does the public think?” What are the movies they might actually be interested in?
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
