(Cineuropa, Dec 13, 2012) The cinematographic coproduction treaty between Italy and China, signed at the beginning of December by President Giorgio Napolitano, is starting to bear its fruits.
Maurizio Sciarra’s next film, Everlasting Moments, will be written in collaboration with Raise the Red Lantern screenwriter Ni Zhen, and will be produced for Italy by Urania Pictures and for China by television channel cctv6. The Hibiscus project by Paolo Logli and Alessandro Pondi will involve television giant Tianjin Tv alongside Italian Emme. With the documentary China Loves Italy, director Ignazio Agosta will speak to Italian industries about Chinese culture, while director and producer Cristiano Bortone will be the man behind a series of lectures at the Beijing Film Academy on Italian and European mechanisms of production.
These are the tangible results of encounters recently held in Beijing to create concrete collaborations between both countries. The meetings, organized by Anica with support fromMiBAC, Ice, the Italian Embassy in Beijing, and the Italian Institute for Culture, involved a delegation of Italian writers and producers and the highest representatives of Chinese cinema. Meeting with Italian writers and producers were Sarft directors – the Chinese Film Bureau which includes state radio, television and cinema – the production and distribution group China Film Group, and heads of the Beijing Film Festival.
On the production side, regular encounters will take place in China and Italy in view of two important festivals, during which time further elaboration on continued coproduction initiatives will take place.
