Davide Abbatescianni, Author at Celluloid Junkie

By DavideAbbatescianni

(From left) Host Aylin Kazi; TikTok creator Melo Nsuka; Jackie Meire, EU Head of Social at Amazon Prime Video, UK; and actress Runa Greiner, who participated in the EFM 2026 panel "From Community to Box Office: How Fandom on TikTok Drives Impact," held on Feb 13, 2026. (Photo: Winson, courtesy of EFM)

Social Media, Fandom and the Hard Question of Conversion

The question of whether social media buzz can actually drive potential audiences to cinemas is as pertinent as ever. As the first reactions for “The Odyssey” break, we reflect on panels that explored this topic at the European Film Market earlier this year… The news that Christophe…

(From left) Ruun Nour, Vancouver International Film Festival programmer and No Evil Eye Cinema co-founder; Can Sungu, artistic director of SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA; Kira Simon-Kennedy, film producer and volunteer member with La Clef collective; and moderate Jeremy Chua, producer at Potocol and executive director of the Singapore International Film Festival, who participated in the Cannes Docs panel “Micro Cinemas and Macro Impact: Independent Exhibition as a Social and Communal Practice,” held on May 16, 2026 (Photo: © Cyril Chateau / Marché du Film)

Micro Cinemas, Major Impact: How Grassroots Exhibitors are Rebuilding Film Culture

At a time when traditional distribution remains under pressure, micro cinemas and independent exhibition spaces may be offering one of the most concrete answers to the question of how films can still find committed, physically present audiences. That was the central argument emerging from the Cannes…

(From left) Nicolas Edmery and Elisa Joliveau-Breney, film analysts at the European Audiovisual Observatory; Naohiro Kaji, director of the Culture and Creative Industries Division at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Martin Kanzler, deputy head of department for market information at the Observatory, who participated in the "FOCUS on World Film Market Trends" at the Marché du Film in Cannes on May 15, 2026. (Photo: courtesy of European Audiovisual Observatory)

Global Cinema Attendance Inches Up, But the Recovery Belongs to Asia, Says the Latest FOCUS Report

The global theatrical market continued its uneven recovery in 2025, with Asia emerging as the main engine of growth and Japan standing out as one of the few major territories to surpass its pre-pandemic attendance levels. That was the central message from the launch of the 2026 edition of FOCUS – Wo…

(Left to Right) Berlinale chief Tricia Tuttle speaks with filmmaker and festival director director Shekhar Kapur during a panel on November 22, 2025 at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, India

Imperfect Is Beautiful: Shekhar Kapur and Tricia Tuttle on AI’s Role in Cinema’s Next Act

Under the winter sun in Panaji, Goa, where palm trees and festival banners spill out along the Mandovi River, the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which took place 20–28 November, once again felt like one of Asia’s most vital A-list gatherings. The industry-focused Waves Film Bazaar…

(Left to Right) Torsten Frehse of Neue Visionen, Rebecca Hartung of Pluto Film, Anne Schultka of KIDSreggio and moderator Alasdair Satchel during The Shrinking Gap Between Theatrical and Streaming Releases panel on November 20, 2025 at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia

Industry Panel at Tallinn Debates the Consequences of Europe’s Shrinking Theatrical Windows

At this year’s Just Film Industry Days, held 19–21 November as part of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, a panel of European industry professionals examined how rapidly shrinking theatrical windows are reshaping distribution models, audience expectations and the long-term health of cinema exhi…

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…