MIA Market and Festa del Cinema: Industry and red carpet in Rome in October!

01 OCTOBER 2025

Rome will soon be getting into the swing of cinema and TV series: the MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo) is holding its latest edition from October 6 to 10, and the Festa del Cinema will be celebrating its 20th edition from October 16 to 26.

On the market front

The MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo) will hold its 11th edition in Rome from October 6 to 10, 2025. Unifrance will be present at the market alongside several exporters.

Several new features are being offered by the MIA this year, including:

Launch of the Book Adaptation Forum (BAF) to promote encounters between publishing and audiovisual industries. It will include the Shoot the Book! initiative, with a delegation of French publishers presenting eight titles.
Creation of UNBOX | Short Film Days, in partnership with Alice nella Città, dedicated to short films and emerging talent.
Implementation of the Vertical AI cycle,four workshops on the use of artificial intelligence in production, in partnership with Largo AI.
First session of the Apollo Series program (European series co-productions), developed with Series Mania Institute and the Göteborg Film Festival, which supports four European projects.

Many majority- or minority-French films have been selected to participate in various co-production markets and pitching sessions:

Animation

The Treasure of the Wyrm (Il tesoro del bigatto) by Francesco Vecchi, produced by Small Boss, in co-production with the Czech Republic and France
The Northern Star (Serveka), produced by Hausboot and Les Films du Cygne (Czech Republic, France)
Mission New Africa, produced by Lanzadera Films (France, Portugal, Spain)
Yapyap by Jens Møller and Solène Azernour, produced by Autour de Minuit (in co-production with Denmark, Germany, and Sweden)

Documentary

Spinosaurus: The Dinosaur that Swam by Grégory Maitre and Olivier Mercier, a 3LPictures production (France)
Iman Le Caire by Olivier Lemaire, produced by Beall Productions and Urbania (France, Canada)

Series (scripted)

Rage, produced by Manon Robillot & Laetitia Quentin de Gromard (Madelon Production)

Cinema (scripted)

Three Times Jenny (France, Germany, produced Tripode Productions and Weydemann Bros)

The MIA Buyers' Club returns to MIA 2025 with a program dedicated to film distribution.

This program includes Comin'UP, aimed at international sellers, where buyers can watch exclusive previews of scenes, clips, or trailers from films still in production.

Last but not least, seven films have been selected for C EU Soon, the program dedicated to European films in production and post-production seeking international distribution.

Among them:

Beyond The Mountains of Acrocero (Fr-Sp) by Laura Haby, produced by Efthymia Zymvragaki (Gris Medio), and co-produced by Cedric Bonin (Seppia)
Parkings (Bel-Fr) by Valéry Rosier, produced by Benoit Roland

Cocktail reception

Unifrance, the Ambassade de France in Italy, MIA, Institut Français, and the Société civile des éditeurs francophones (SCELF) will jointly host a “Business Mixer” reception on Wednesday, October 8, to celebrate the works and talents of French professionals in the market and honor the Scenari Transalpini & Shoot the Book! initiatives

The Scenari Transalpini program, an initiative of the Institut Français Italy, in partnership with MIA and Villa Medici, returns to encourage collaboration between the French and Italian audiovisual industries by supporting the development of new works.

The following six projects (series) have been selected for the 2025 edition:

The Clan of the Marseillais / Il Clan dei Marsigliesi, produced by Giorgio Gucci and written by Alessandro Fabbri (Italy)
The White Queen / La regina bianca by Sara Loffredi and Alberto Ostini (Italy)
Ex Tenebris Lux by Giacomo Arrigoni (Italy)
La linea verde by Elio and Chiara Cassaghi (France)
Lake Como by Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via (France)
O Sole Mio by Marguerite and Thérèse Quadrelli (France).

All information can be found on the MIA Market's official website

On the festival front

The Festa del Cinema will mainly take place at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, which will host the main screening rooms and the vast red carpet, one of the largest in the world. Other venues and cultural entities in the capital are also participating in the Festa.

Since 2022, the Festa del Cinema has included an International Competition, with a jury composed of professionals from the worlds of cinema, culture, and the arts. Meetings with the public, events, special screenings, and tributes are also part of the program.

On the French cinema front, we should mention the screenings of eagerly awaited films such as Couture by Alice Winocour, A Private Life by Rebecca Zlotowski, and Two Pianos by Arnaud Desplechin.

All the French films presented at the 20th Festa del Cinema in Rome

(majority-French films are indicated in bold)

Progressive Cinema Competition

The Piano Accident by Quentin Dupieux
Left-Handed Girl by Shih-Ching Tsou
Six Days in Spring by Joachim Lafosse
The Things You Kill by Alireza Khatami
Nino by Pauline Loquès

Freestyle

Alexandre Trannoy - L'œuvre invisible by Avril Tembouret and Vladimir Rodionov
The Veláquez Mystery by Stéphane Sorlat
La Scala: The Force of Destiny by Anissa Bonnefont
Spices and Lies by Amine Adjina

Grand Public

All the French films presented at the 23rd Alice nella città

Alice nella Città, an independent and parallel section of the festival dedicated to younger generations, will take place on the same dates and will also present a selection of French titles, including the animated films Dandelion's Odyssey by Momoko Seto, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han, and A Second Life, the latest film by Laurent Slama.