RAI launches Umbriafiction TV with international support.

RAI Launches Umbriafication TV With International Support

Umbriafiction TV needs to be explained. It is not publicized as a market, and it is not a pure festival, nor is it just a conference. But, it could well be a pre-MIP-TV market, it has a competition, therefore it is fair to call it a festival, and it has a symposium. Umbriafiction TV, the first of an expected annual meet, is a media event. Staged in three cities in close proximity in the Umbria region of Italy, April 6-11, it is mainly sponsored by RAI with the help of its subsidiary SACIS, and the private sponsorship agency, Esseevi Group.

In addition, Umbriafiction TV has the patronage of Umbria's regional government and the support of Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest.

RAI is Italy's state-owned broadcasting organization, while SACIS is RAI's independent program sales arm. The Umbria cities are: Perugia, Gubbio and Terni. Fiction programs produced for television is the bonding theme for the whole media event. Umbriafiction TV is divided into five parts: A trade festival for European and non-European programs; an international conference on two major topics; a screening session; a general public-participation selection, and program premieres. The market aspect of Umbriafiction TV is said to be intrinsic to the fact that whenever film-TV executives meet, they're bound to talk about buying, selling or coproducing.

A European jury headed by Nikita Michalkov and including star of TV's Derrick, Horst Tappert, Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini, and Oscar-winning screenwriter Ennio De Concini is expected to be judging non-European TV programs.

At the same time, a non-European jury including Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar-winning Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, Kabir Bedi, Ben Gazzara and president of Warner Bros International TV, Michael J. Solomon, - will be evaluating TV movies, mini-series and sitcoms produced in Europe.

An international conference on production and the relationship between film and television will open the festival in Perugia on April 6. The title of the debate is "Europe-USA: The Two Faces of Fiction." After the inauguration ceremony, to which RAI director general Gianni Pasquarelli and RAI president Enrico Manca have invited the jury presidents and various Italian politicians, a series of face-to-face debates will get under way between European and non-European producers, directors, cultural authorities, authors and advertisers. Paolo Glisenti, responsible for planning at Italy's media company RCS, will lead a panel expected to include American author Scott Turow, Spanish producer Andres Vicente Gomez, Italian actor Michele Placido, scriptwriter Lee Phillip Bell, writer for The Bold and the Beautiful. Other celebrities expected to attend this first Umbriafiction TV include: John Savage, Christopher Walken, Joe Pesci, Jill Clayburgh, Treat Williams, Vincent Gardenia, Harvey Keitel, Carol Alt, Ethan Wayne and Jane Campion, director of An Angel at My Table.

On Sunday, April 7, the European TV industry will have its say: top-level executives from Europe's largest networks and production companies will take part in a round table discussion called "Can A European Television Industry Exist?" RAI's president Gianni Pasquarelli will be part of a panel including representatives from RCS, Fininvest, Tele Monte Carlo, the Kirch Group, Canal Plus, the BBC, and Soviet broadcaster Gosteleradio. On April 6, is the world premiere of the film Afghan Breakdown starring Michele Placido and produced by Clemi Cinematografica in association with RAI 2. Other premieres will be offered by RAI-1, Fininvest and RCS Produzioni. The cities of Gubbio and Terni will host the presentation of Captain Cosmo, the first TV fiction program produced in High Definition, directed by Carlo Carlei for RAI's New Technology Department.

Screening of the programs in competition will get underway on Monday, April 8 at the Park Hotel Cappuccini in Gubbio. Thirty competing programs have been selected from 120 entries received from broadcasters and production companies from all over the world. The competition is open to works not previously broadcast as well as programs aired during the preceding television season, produced by both public and private broadcasters. One program among the winners, picked by both juries together, will receive the special Umbriafiction TV Prize.

In addition, to the two International Juries, Italian readers of four leading weekly magazines: Gente, Gioia, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and Radiocorriere TV will be able to vote for their favorite programs and stars.

The "Golden Video" Popularity Prize will be awarded to winners of the readers' referendum, which also enables participating readers to compete for prizes offered by the Festival sponsor.

To underline European commitment to the Festival, another Special Prize from combined juries will be assigned each year according to production formula of particular interest. For 1991, the Special Prize will be awarded to the best International Coproduction.

Finally, among the programs in competition, by nomination of the Artistic Committee, both juries will assign Best Actor and Best Actress prizes, as well as Best Video Special Effects and Best Script.

Five exposition booths have been rented by international sales companies, including SACIS and Silvio Berlusconi Comm.