The International Circulation of National Cinemas and Audiovisual Content – Conference Final Program

 The International Circulation of National Cinemas and Audiovisual Content: The Challenge of Convergence and Multiplatform Distribution in the European Context

International conference organized by Massimo Scaglioni, Emiliano Morreale and Paolo Noto,

Università Cattolica di Milano, Milan 17-18 September 2019

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As one of the finale outcome of the “CInCIt: The International Circulation of Italian Cinema” research project, financed by the Italian Ministry for Universities and Higher Education (MIUR) under the auspices of the ‘PRIN 2015’ scheme, this conference aims to focus on the circulation and distribution of cinema and audiovisual content in the European contexts in a comparative way. Given the recent mutations of the film industry and distribution technology in the digital age, there are clear lines and trajectories that divide the European countries in terms of their ability to circulate their media products – and with them a specific image of a culture – across the continent.

The research carried out within the CInCIt project has highlighted some of Italian cinema’s directions of transformation and adaptation from a transnational perspective, which could be verified by means of a comparison with other European contexts. The case studies that the research group has analyzed, in part available on www.italiancinema.it, reveal already three findings: that over the last decade the international pathways for film circulation have undergone change (involving, in the Italian case, the reduction of exports towards traditionally welcoming countries, such as France); that some traditionally strong areas of European production (middlebrow art cinema, for instance) struggle to exploit the new system of distribution windows and above all to access over-the-top platforms; and that new geographical clusters for circulation are emerging (the North-European market, for example, but less obviously also a Mediterranean circuit for the distribution of comedies).

Considering the increasing importance of digitization and streaming culture in audiovisual media consumption, i.e. the most important and visible driver of these transformations, patterns of distribution and circulation quickly become urgent issues in Film and Media studies. The European media and creative industries vary in their ability to circulate both inside and outside national borders: it is important to understand both these different trajectories in depth, and the potential of the various politics of sustainability for different national cinemas abroad.

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CONFERENCE PROGRAM

September 17, 2019
(Università Cattolica di Milano, Largo Agostino Gemelli 1, Room G.127)

9.00-9.30
Institutional Greetings
Giovanni GOBBER, Dean of the Faculty of Linguistic Sciences and Foreign Literatures, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Introduction
Massimo SCAGLIONI, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Emiliano MORREALE, Sapienza Università di Roma, Paolo NOTO, Università di Bologna

9.30-11.00 | Keynote speech
Chair: Massimo SCAGLIONI, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Data Troubles: Digital Distribution in the Global Media Market
Jennifer HOLT, University of California Santa Barbara

11.00-11.15 | Coffee break

11.15-13.15 | Panel #1 – National Cinemas and Audiovisual Contents in a Global Perspective
Chair: Paolo NOTO, Università di Bologna

Gatekeeping in the Evolving Business of Independent Film Distribution
Roderik SMITS, Cardiff University

Challenges of European Public Film Funds Regarding the Distribution of European Films
Petar MITRIC, University of Copenaghen

Circulating Cinema. Understanding the Transnational, National and Regional Dynamics of UK Film
Philip DRAKE, Manchester Metropolitan University

Global Production in the Era of Peak TV
Serra TINIC, University of Alberta

13.15-14.45 | Lunch Break

14.45-16.45 | Panel #2 – Netflix And the On-Demand World
Chair: Luca BARRA, Università di Bologna

Keywords for the Study of Audiovisual Circulation on VOD Portals
Ira WAGMAN, Carleton University, Ottawa
Petr SZCZEPANIK, Charles University, Prague

The International Circulation of Turkish Cinema and Series Across Netflix
Ece VITRINEL, Galatasaray University

Streaming Impegno Opportunities and Contradictions of Digital Distribution Through the Case of ‘On My Skin’
Gloria DAGNINO, Università della Svizzera Italiana

Netflix goes glocal: transmedia advertising strategy in Italy
Valerio DI PAOLA, Sapienza Università di Roma

16.45-17.00 | Coffee Break

17.00-19.00 | Panel #3 – Film Festivals and the Circulation of Audiovisual Content
Chair: Emiliano MORREALE, Sapienza Università di Roma

Circulation of European Films on the International Film Festival Circuits
Skadi LOIST, Zhenya SAMOILOVA, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf

Linking Film Festivals, Theatrical Distribution and Exhibition
Luca ANTONIAZZI, Università di Bologna
Dario BONAZELLI, I Wonder Pictures

European National Cinemas and The International Film Festivals: The Case of the “New Romanian Cinema”
Pietro MASCIULLO, Sapienza Università di Roma

Italian Cinema in France. A Festival Case: Les Rencontres du cinéma italien à Grenoble et en Isère
Clizia CENTORRINO, Université Grenoble Alpes

19.30 | Reception & Special Event
(Cortile d’onore)

Matera, European Capital of Culture
Screening of The Gospel According to St. Matthew (P. P. Pasolini, 1964), with English subtitles

September 18, 2019
(Università Cattolica di Milano, Largo Agostino Gemelli 1, Room G.126, G.127)

9.00-11.00 | Parallel Sessions

Panel #4 – New (Italian) Cinema History (G.127)
Chair: Damiano GAROFALO, Sapienza Università di Roma

Before the Italian School of the Liberation: The French Critical Reception of Italian Cinema during the 1930s
Fabio ANDREAZZA, Università di Chieti-Pescara

Patterns of International Distribution and Circulation of Italian Historical Cinema Since the 1990s
Martina LOVASCIO, University of York

The Visibility and Invisibility of Italian Cinema
Dom HOLDAWAY, Università di Milano

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Panel #5 – Documentary and Non-Professionals (G.126)
Chair: Luca PERETTI, The Ohio State University

Alter-economies of digital film distribution in the documentary field from a European comparative perspective
Jacopo RASMI, Université Grenoble Alpes

“Whispers”: Cinematic VR Documentary Transnational Distribution
MichaL PABIS-ORZESZYNA, University of Lódz

Pietro Marcello and Michelangelo Frammartino: From a National Cinema to a New Sense of Belonging
Alma MILETO, Sapienza Università di Roma

The Non-Professional in the Reception of Italian Cinema Abroad
Catherine O’RAWE, University of Bristol

11.00-11.15 | Coffee Break

11.15-13.15 | Parallel Sessions

Panel #6 – Italian Television Abroad (G.127)
Chair: Anna SFARDINI, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Televisual Italianism? The critical reception of 1992 and Suburra in the US and the UK
Gianluigi ROSSINI, Università de L’Aquila

A local story for a global audience. The “linear” screen adaptation of “My Brilliant Friend”
Paolo BRAGA, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

‘My Brilliant Friend’: International Promotion and Cultural Reception of a Successful TV Series
Claudio BISONI, Elisa FARINACCI, Università di Bologna

”Sì, viaggiare”. The Role of Popular Music in Transnational Italian TV
Daniela CARDINI, IULM
Gianni SIBILLA, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

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Panel #7 – Italian Film Genres (G.126)
Chair: Marco CUCCO, Università di Bologna

Mediterraneo, Mediterranea: Italian Visions of an International Mediterranean
Harry KASHDAN, The Ohio State University

Teen Movie, Italian Style. Local Film and Global Genre Between Resilience and Transnational Practices
Stefano GUERINI ROCCO, Università di Bergamo

“Commedia alla transnazionale”? Transnational film remakes: the case of Italian comedies
Rinaldo VIGNATI, Università di Bologna

Italian comedy in Spain: the case of Nunziante and Zalone
Armando FUMAGALLI, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

13.15-14.45 | Lunch Break

14.45-16.15 | Parallel Sessions

Panel #8 – Seeing Double: Methods for Diasporic Consciousness of Film in the New World After WWII (G.127)
Chair: Michele FADDA, Università di Bologna

Movie-going in Stereoscope: Film Advertising in “Foreign Language” Newspapers in Urban Canada
Paul MOORE, Ryerson University of Toronto

Cinemas of Diaspora: Italian-language film distributors in Canada
Jessica Leonora WHITEHEAD, Ryerson University of Toronto

One Step Ahead: Greek and Italian Film Circuits in the Antipodes
Deb VERHOEVEN, University of Alberta

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Panel #9 – Non-Linear Circulation and Reception (G.126)
Chair: Paola BREMBILLA, Università di Bologna

The Circulation of Italian Film Provided By The Cinematheques
Rossella CATANESE, IMT Lucca

Italian Cinema and Videographic Criticism: Reception and Practice
Alan O’LEARY, University of Leeds
Dana RENGA, The Ohio State University

Benvenuti a bordo: the Nation-Branding Devices of Inflight Cinema
Emiliano ROSSI, Università di Bologna

16.15-16.30 | Coffee Break

16.30-18.30 | Final Roundtable: Challenges and Opportunities for the Circulation of Italian Cinema Abroad
Chair: Marco CUCCO, Università di Bologna

Mario GIANANI, Executive Producer of “The Young Pope – The New Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” (Wildside)

Giacomo MANZOLI, Head of Department of the Arts, Università di Bologna

Nevina SATTA, Director of Sardinia Film Commission Marina SPADA, Film Director and Member of “100autori”

Marina SPADA, Film Director and Member of “100autori”

You can download here the program in pdf and here the poster of the conference.

Organizing Committee: Paola Brembilla, Paolo Carelli, Damiano Garofalo, Valentina Moscatelli, Luca Peretti, Anna Sfardini

Scientific Committee: Luca Barra, Giulia Carluccio, Marco Cucco, Ruggero Eugeni, Michele Fadda, Mariagrazia Fanchi, David Forgacs, Massimo Locatelli, Giacomo Manzoli, Catherine O’Rawe, Marta Perrotta, Dana Renga, Tomaso Subini, Daniela Treveri Gennari