"Sicily, Women, and Cinema » new Rom-Com announced in Cannes

 This year, the Sicilia Film Commission and the Sicilian Ministry of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment is attending the Cannes Film Festival through a dedicated expositive place called Casa Sicilia based at the Majestic Hotel. The venue is destined to the photographic project « Sicily, Women and Cinema ». This photography exhibition, which is opening ceremoniously at the Cannes Film Festival, is a tribute to women: 12 characters from 12 films are reinterpreted and powerfully staged through the lens of fashion photographer MOJA.

The project “Women and Cinema” was initiated in 2017 in the wake of the #MeToo revelations. The goal of Luxembourgbased fashion photographer MOJA was to make a statement in the industry and celebrate the strength of women. The photo series, which gives voice to the more reserved female characters in the original film and strongly showcases them in original locations, will be on display at the Festival de Cannes for the fourth consecutive year. This year – supported by the country of Sicily – the focus is on the Sicilian landscape, film history and femininity as narrative elements. At the same time, the repositioning of Sicilian film legends in original locations is intended to convey a more authentic image of Sicily that invites people to discover the beauty and diversity of the country.

The Sicilia Film Commission is a public entity operating within the Sicilian Regional Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Entertainment. Established in 2007, the Sicilia Film Commission promotes the Sicilian territory as a location of excellence for audio-visual productions and supports the development of the local film industry and its professionals.

Through the annual publication of public calls and by offering free assistance and consulting services, the Sicilia Film Commission supports productions that choose Sicily as a set for their shootings.Since 2011, the Sicilia Film Commission has also supported film festivals and reviews within its regional territory through annual and biennial calls for proposals for high-profile events. Its contributions to these events help promote film and audio-visual culture in the region.

For the biennium 2022-2023, the Call for Feature Films, TV Series, Short Films and Documentaries 2022 - 2023 is being published for a total amount of € 10,800,000.00.

The Sicilia Film Commission further encourages the training of young documentary filmmakers through its support for the threeyear course in Documentary Cinema offered by the Sicilian Branch of the “Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia” / National School of Cinema and promotes development of new languages inaudiovisual technology with calls for proposals for the production of experimental short films and web series. The web portal of the Sicilia Film Commission - reachable at www.siciliafilmcommission.org – provides relevant information and news and is an essential tool for keeping up to date with the activities promoted by the Sicilia Film Commission in favour of the audiovisual industry. Featured sections of the site are dedicated to the Location Guide and the Production Guide. The Location Guide now has over 700 high-resolution images for a number of the surveyed 279 locations. It is searchable by geographic area and type of site (with more than 40 categories such as castles, lighthouses, aqueducts, and stairways), providingsupport to productions seeking a suitable location for their subjects. The Production Guide collects the curricula of audio-visual professionals able to offer high professional standards to productions that choose Sicily as the location for their shootings.

In 2021, the Sicily Film Commission supported the production of the film "Fortress," directed by Jessica Woodworth. We assisted the project both in the preliminary phase of location scouting and in the realization phase. We also helped during filming to facilitate relations with local and regional administrations. In addition, through the 2021 Call for Proposals, the film was the beneficiary of a financial contribution.

In 2022, the Sicily Film Commission supported the production of Sicilian holiday produced by academy award winner AdamLiepzig - producer of “Dead poet society” , “Good morning Vietnam”, “The March of the pinguin” and Directed by Michela Scolari. In the style of “Roman Holidays”, “Stealing Beauty” and “Under the Tuscan Sun”, “Sicilian Holidays” is a romantic comedy, portraying the story of Mia (30), a troubled actress from LA, who gets stocked in Sicily and falls in love with Nino (35), an Italian sculptor, nephew to legendary artist Dante.