262 projects were submitted to the pre-selection of the Venice Gap-Financing Market (270 in 2019), out of these 104 by female directors and 180 by male directors. 40 projects were selected,  of which 28 Fiction and Documentary and 12 VR Immersive Story projects. Out of these 16 by female directors and 27 by male directors.
 
The 40 Fiction and Documentary and VR Immersive Story projects, plus 12 Biennale College VR and 3 Biennale College Cinema  projects were presented across 3 days and 614 one-to-one meetings have been organized (374 took place in-person on-site and 240 online).
 
The Venice Gap-Financing Market has been supported by the European Commission - Creative Europe and its MEDIA programme.
 
18 publishers participated in the Book Adaptation Rights Market: 13 in-person and 5 online. A total of 172 one-to-one meetings were organised with producers for the adaptation from page to the screen of literary rights (135 took place in-person and 37 online).

FINAL CUT IN VENICE WORKSHOP

The Venice Production Bridge organized the 8^th edition of its workshop programme, Final Cut in Venice. 55 projects were submitted, out of these 14 by female directors and 44 by male directors. Out of these 6 projects were selected, 2 by female directors and 4 by male directors.
 
On September 7 and 8, the 6 works-in-progress were presented online, followed by a Q&A, while on September 9, 21 online one-to-one meetings were organized between the project teams and financiers.
 
The Jury of La Biennale di Venezia Prize, composed of Marie Pierre Macia (MPM Film), Antonio Medici (BIM Distribuzione) and Michel Zana (Sophie Dulac Distribution), gave a cash award of € 5,000 to support the best film in post-production to:
 
HARVEST, by Ely Dagher (France, Lebanon, Belgium, Qatar, USA)
Producer: Arnaud Dommerc
 
The Jury of the supporters of this edition of Final Cut in Venice has decided to give their support to the following films in post-production:

SOULA, by Salah Issaad (Algeria, France)
HARVEST, by Ely Dagher (France, Lebanon, Belgium, Qatar, USA)
THE BLUE INMATES by Zeina Daccache (Lebanon) 

The full details of the awards given can be seen HERE

EUROPEAN FILM FORUM

Fostering recovery & building resilience: Audiovisual as a key industry for Europe’s growth.

In association with the EU's Creative Europe MEDIA Programme, La Biennale di Venezia organized the 6th edition of the European Film Forum (September 4, 2020) that gathered key industry leaders from all over the world.
 
Seizing the opportunity of celebrating the 77.Venice International Film Festival, and in light of the current challenging crisis, this event took stock of the situation of Europe’s audiovisual ecosystem during the past months and took a look at the future, discussing ways to ensure immediate recovery while guaranteeing long-term competitiveness of this key industry for Europe’s economy.

The event was opened by Roberto Cicutto, President of La Biennale di Venezia, Thierry Breton (European Commissioner for the Internal Market), and Anna Laura Orrico (Italian Under-Secretary of State for Culture and Tourism).  The event can be seen in the VPB Live Stream Archive.

 

NOTABLE DECISION MAKERS AT THE VPB