Davide Abbatescianni, Author at Celluloid Junkie

By DavideAbbatescianni

The panellists sit on stage with a screen behind them, from left to right: Michele Casula; Alessandro Usai; Davide Novelli; Federica Lucisano; Simone Gialdini; Sonia Dichter; Valentina Torlaschi

Moviegoers Return But Italian Cinema is Running Out of Stories, Say MIA Panellists

Italy’s audiovisual sector benefits from sophisticated tools to track audience behavior and box office performance. Through box office tracking company, Cinetel, attendance data is collected in near real-time, while CinExpert – the weekly monitoring service that tracks the sociodemographic character…

(From Left) Dylan Leiner of Sony Pictures Classics, Jakob Abrahamsson of NonStop Entertainment, Frank L. Stavik of Fidalgo, and Antonella Canturi of Rai Cinema's 01 Distribution and moderator Davide Abbatescianni during a Buyers In Focus session on 6 September 2025 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival

Distribution Around the World: Buyers at TIFF Share Lessons for Theatrical’s Next Chapter

At the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival’s Buyers In Focus sessions, industry leaders from six territories revealed how they’re navigating streaming pressure, changing audiences, and TIFF’s rise as a market hub. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival (September 4–14) hosted sev…

(From Left) La Frances Hui (MoMA), Jacques Jagou, Pip Chodorov, Leo Van Hee, Elodie Mellado, Bernardo Rondeau during the Promotional Strategies for Classic Films Today panel at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on August 11, 2025

Locarno Insights: Marketing Classics in the Age of Letterboxd

On August 11, at the Locarno Film Festival’s Heritage Monday roundtable, industry leaders debated how to market classic films to a new generation raised on TikTok and Letterboxd. The session, titled “Promotional Strategies for Classic Films Today,” was moderated by freelance programmer Bernardo Rond…

Locarno Film Festival 2025 - Building Sustainable Film Ecosystems in Africa - Panel - Mitchell Harper, Neigeme Glasgow-Maeda, Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri, Ema Edosio-Deelen, Yannick Mizero Kabano

Locarno Panel Champions Africa’s Self-Reliant Film Ecosystem

On 9 August, Hotel Belvedere’s Sala Granda hosted the Locarno Pro panel “Building Sustainable Film Ecosystems in Africa: Financing the Future” during this year’s Locarno Film Festival. The event brought together filmmakers and industry strategists from across the continent and beyond to explore inno…

Francesco Lattarulo - Producer & Chief Financial Officer, Mediterraneo Cinematografica

Italy’s Film Tax Credit Reform: Unpacking the Challenges with Producer Francesco Lattarulo

Over the past 15 years, Italy’s tax credit system has become one of the key drivers of its film and audiovisual production industry. But recent reforms have sparked confusion and disrupted workflows, especially for smaller independent production companies. To better understand the origins of the sch…

Cannes Film Festival - Marche du Film 2025 - Defining and Designing European Film Success - Panel - Maja Cappello, Huub Roelvink, Peter Fornstam, Valeska Neu, Mati?ss Kaz?a, Agnieszka Moody, Gilles Fontaine

Cannes 2025: Defining the Success of European Films

The European Audiovisual Observatory’s traditional Saturday panel at Cannes’ Marché du Film, held this year on 17 May, returned to a timely and contentious question: what makes a European film successful—and how can we create more success stories? Moderated by Maja Cappello and Gilles Fontaine of th…

European Film Market 2025 - Eyes on the Audience - Smart Thinking in Distribution & Exhibition

Berlinale’s European Film Market Panel Dissects State of Exhibition Sector in Greece, Denmark, Austria and UK

The Berlinale’s European Film Market (EFM) hosted a panel discussion in February titled “Eyes on the Audience: Smart Thinking in Distribution & Exhibition,” which brought together key European industry professionals from across the region to address one of the most pressing concerns in independe…

A panel of experts sits in front of an audience at IFFR Pro, with a TV screen to the left.

Festivals as Gatekeepers and Tastemakers: The Changing Landscape of Festival Distribution at IFFR

As the landscape of distribution and exhibition evolves, the role of festivals as ‘gatekeepers and tastemakers’ is being questioned more than ever before. Once seen as the primary arbiters of cinematic prestige, festivals now face stiff competition from distributors and streamers that increasingly s…

Kathleen McInnis - 2025 International Rotterdam Film Festival IFFR

Veteran Programmer and Publicist Kathleen McInnis on Promoting Indie Films, the Importance of Planning Marketing Strategies and the Role of Festivals

One of the particularly interesting sessions at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) was hosted by seasoned film festival programmer and publicist Kathleen McInnis on 1 February. Titled “Meet the Expert: Marketing, Publicity, and Strategies for Independent Films”, the talk saw th…

Rome MIA

Rome MIA Panel Dissects the ‘Intrinsic Value’ of Theatrical Distribution and Exhibition in Italy

On October 15, Rome’s MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo) hosted a panel titled “Italian Cinema Insights: Unveiling the Intrinsic Value of Theatrical and Exhibition,” moderated by journalist Alessandra De Luca. The talk saw the participation of Tarak Ben Ammar (Chairman, Eagle Pictures), Simone…