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PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE 2022 Italia

Alessandro Amato • Productor, dispàrte

"Con las plataformas, nos arriesgamos a la homogeneización, tenemos que salvar el cine de autor, de investigación y experimentación"

por 

- El joven productor italiano habla sobre los proyectos que llevará a la Croisette y los retos a los que se enfrenta al competir en un mercado tan cambiado

Alessandro Amato • Productor, dispàrte

Este artículo está disponible en inglés.

It was the success of Maura Delpero’s first work Maternal [+lee también:
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entrevista: Maura Delpero
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(awarded a Special Jury Mention in Locarno 2019) which drove Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimienti’s small independent company onto the road of international co-productions. And now dispàrte has a series of interesting projects in the pipeline which will be travelling to Cannes looking for partners from all over the world. We chatted with Amato who’s been selected as one of the EFP’s 2022 Producers on the Move.

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Cineuropa: Judging by Maternal, made in co-production with Argentina’s Campo Cine, and the projects you have in development, it’s clear that dispàrte is veering towards a vocation for international co-production. What drives an independent firm like yours to expand its room for manoeuvre and to look for ideas and collaboration (and funding) abroad?
Alessandro Amato:
Our experience with Maternal was a turning point for our professional growth and for dispàrte. My associate Luigi Chimienti and I took our first steps in international markets and workshops which opened a window for us onto co-productions, expanding our network and broadening our minds. The penny dropped, and we decided we wanted to carry on working with international partners on wide-ranging projects, preferably natural co-productions, working closely with different subjects and cultures, both in creative and financial terms.

Can you tells us more about your experience with Maternal, such as the extent to which you were involved in the project?
We read an initial screenplay for Maternal and I met Maura Delpero thanks to Gregorio Paonessa and Marta Donzelli from Vivo Film, who were initially approached by the director and the Argentine co-producer Nicolas Avruj from Campo Cine who were looking for an Italian partner. The project, which had previously been selected for the Berlinale Talent Script Station, had great potential and Maura already had very clear ideas about it. We became majority producers of the film, continuing the journey with both companies. It was also thanks to their experience that the project grew and we ourselves grew, overcoming quite a few challenges, including, to name just a few, the overhaul of the entire Italian legislative system - notably rules relating to tax credit - fluctuations in the Argentine economy and in pesos, and, once the pandemic hit, opting to wait for cinema distribution rather than anticipating the film’s release on a platform.

You’re bringing projects at different stages of development to Producers on the Move - can you give us a few hints about them?
Our projects in development are the natural result of the road we’ve walked: they’re very different from one another but united by their strong international character.

A Song That Slays will be the first work of fiction by multi-award-winning Italian-American documentary-maker Mo Scarpelli, who previously took part in the Less Is More workshop and in the Berlinale Talent Script Station; it’s a dramatic coming of age tale set in Kenya and co-produced with the USA, which is on the hunt for European partners.

Il Cileno is an adaptation of a book telling the true story of Aldo Marin, a young Chilean revolutionary who, in the exceptional context of the 1970s, tries to find his place in the world between Santiago de Chile and Turin. The project is co-produced by Pablo Calisto’s Chilean firm EQUECO and penned by Italian screenwriter Simona Nobile alongside well-known Chilean director Sergio Castro San Martin, who’s set to direct it. We’ve already secured funds for the film’s development and we’re starting the production funding process, as well as seeking out European partners.

The third project is called Paradiso, which is the first work by Giulio Mastromauro who’s directed various successful short films, including Inverno, which won the 2020 David di Donatello Award. We’re working with him to develop an ambitious and highly personal project, straddling drama and magical realism, for which we’re looking for a partner from another European country where we can set part of the film.

We’ve also only recently finished Margini [+lee también:
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entrevista: Niccolò Falsetti
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, a first work by Niccolò Falsetti which we’re producing alongside Manetti Bros. Film and RAI Cinema, whose international sales are managed by Fandango Sales and whose premiere we’ll soon be announcing.

Is this opportunity to exchange thoughts and compare notes in Cannes important to you?
I’ve already met the other participants online and it’s proved highly stimulating. The opportunity to compare notes with colleagues who have a similar level of experience and whose personal paths are unique but have a lot in common with mine, makes this experience not just an important opportunity to promote your own work, but first and foremost a crucial networking opportunity for future projects and for fundamental discussions on challenges and future opportunities.

As a producer, what do you think of the rapid change in distribution which is moving in platforms’ favour and the transfer of creative and productive resources onto series?
Platforms are radically changing the market and the final product, and they’re attracting essential resources. The cultures of the individual European countries (among other aspects) are at risk of becoming homogenised. Discussions with platforms seems to have been limited to a handful of major producers, who have since grown even stronger. Small independent producers struggle to compete in such a changed market. We need to safeguard the authoriality, research and experimentation - which is characteristic of independent film and is essential for a healthy and diverse market – by way of decisive legislative action and, above all, widespread education on audiovisual products, which should begin as soon as possible.

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(Traducción del italiano)

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