The Fantastic Film Forum is the section of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival dedicated to fantastic and genre film professionals. Producers, filmmakers, film professionals, renowned masters and emerging talents will get together for a one-day long session of conferences, masterclasses and networking events with cinema experts. The primary goal is to create a meeting point which may foster new projects as well as boost the exchange of experiences and contacts, thereby encouraging international cooperation and actively promoting fantastic cinema.
The conferences will take place in English
Admittance for Sci-Fi Pro and Guests only. Admittance for press under request at comunicazione@scienceplusfiction.org.
To get your Sci-Fi Pro badge, please get registered in the festival reserved area and fill in the form. A link to the payment procedure will follow.
For info: forum@scienceplusfiction.org
Programme:
10.00
Fantastic film festivals, genre film industry and support facilities
During the very last few years, more and more fantastic film festivals are setting up facilities aimed at supporting the genre film industry: co-production markets, training courses, funding and development labs, etc. But are these tools truly effective? Some practical examples, and an open discussion with festival directors and film professionals to check what should be done next.
Speaking guests: Alessandro Gropplero, International Relations, Fondo per l’Audiovisivo del Friuli Venezia Giulia; Chris Oosterom, artistic director, Imagine Film Festival; Alan Jones, film critic, broadcaster, author and co-director FrightFest
11.00
Is genre and fantastic cinema really profitable?
Fantastic and genre cinema is usually regarded as the quintessential form of commercial cinema – a sort of safe-haven asset with low costs and safe incomes. But is it really like that? A debate among film professionals to discuss whether and how it may be financially profitable to produce genre cinema.
Speaking guests: Milan Todorovic, director and producer; Mikko Aromaa, Head of Acquisitions, Night Visions Distribution; Fabrizio Liberti, TV Production Management, Rai Cinema
12.15
Beyond Skyline: producing independent sci-fi cinema in a globalised world
Blockbuster VFX, US management, financings mostly from Asia, Russia and Canada, Indonesian locations: Beyond Skyline seems to point to the future of science-fiction cinema in a new globalised world. A meeting with the director and the producer, who will illustrate the unusual and cutting-edge production of the film.
Speaking guests: Liam O’Donnell, director, and Matthew Chausse, producer
13.15
Networking lunch
Sci-Fi Pro passes only
14.30
Genre cinema and production opportunities: focus on France
French genre cinema managed to exploit at the best the potential offered by international co-production, attaining a qualitative level often superior to that of many US productions. An overview of an extremely vital film industry, capable of producing always new talents, featuring Xavier Gens – one of the most active and international directors of the last generation – and first-time director Mathieu Turi. With a special session moderator: journalist and film director Alexandre Poncet
Speaking guests: Xavier Gens, director and producer; Mathieu Turi, director; Alexandre Poncet, film critic, producer and director
15.30
Genre cinema and production opportunities: focus on Finland
Finland – and Scandinavia more broadly – is growing more and more focused on the production of fantastic cinema, benefiting from a thriving digital and VFX industry, a marketing and distribution platform for genre film producers, and the only existing film fund specifically dedicated to genre films. Starting from a case study on It came from the desert, a closer look at the opportunities offered by the Nordic film industry.
Speaking guests: Marko Mäkilaakso, director, and Mikko Aromaa, Chairman of the Board, Nordic Genre Invasion
16.30
Coffee break
16.45
Italian tax credit for producers and investors: the incoming reforms and decrees
After being introduced in 2009, the Italian tax credit for film and audiovisual production has undergone several amendments, in order to make it as effective as possible. The very last reform – not promulgated yet, hence subject to changes – is about to be brought about this year, and the regional delegate of the Producers Guild of Italy (AGICI) will recap its main outlines.
In collaboration with AGICI – Producers Guild of Italy
