Paolo Del Brocco, GM of Rai Cinema, is at Beijing as member of the jury of the Beijing International Film Festival, where Italy presents Caffè by Cristiano Bortone (Orisa Produzioni, Rai Cinema, with the contribution of MiBACT, Savage Film, Road Pictures, China Blue Film, in collaboration with D’Hive, YunnanCommunication Group, Lucent Pictures, with the support of Screen Flanders, D-Hive Film Fund, IDM Südtirol – Alto Adige Film Fund &Commission), a focus on the production and a retrospective on Antonioni. Del Brocco has commented upon a future opening of the Italian cinema to the Chinese market, also thanks to the cooperation agreement signed by President Mattarella during his visit to China.
” It is a matter of finding the best ways to bring Italian films to China, through the right production and making paths in order to meet the taste of both audiences” the manager said. As to the weak presence of Italian cinema at Cannes, Del Brocco said: “It is surprising but it is not a tragedy as many are saying: in the past years we’ve always been present, and we will be in the future since many new projects are under way. Italian cinema has a great visibility abroad”.
Del Brocco also commented on the lower income from comedies and said it was “expected: that is why Rai Cinema is exploring new genres, focusing on more pop, biting and surreal films, such as Smetto Quando Voglio or Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot. The real challenge is to bring people back to cinemas, to educate them to enjoy the story independently from genres. It is not easy, but we shouldn’t be afraid of low receipts. It is something we are supposed to do as public broadcaster”
