– Biografilm’s Bologna-based industry gathering also awarded trophies to The Lawyer by Maciek Bochniak and A Search for Love by Carlotta Piccinini
Producer Alice Drago (Epica Film) and director-producer Michele Fornasero (Indyca) with the main award at the Bio to B Industry Days for The Last Class (© Eleonora Conti)
The 13th edition of Bio to B – Industry Days | Doc&Drama, an annual event dedicated to documentary projects and organised by Bologna’s Biografilm, has now wrapped, having unspooled between 8 and 10 June. The fifth edition of Bio to B – Industry Days | Drama, which is dedicated to fictional works, ran in parallel to the above gathering, on 8 and 9 June, and welcomed over 180 professionals working in the publishing and audiovisual sectors.
Hosted by Industry Days | Doc, 16 projects were presented to an audience of decision makers, international sales agents, national and international broadcasters, producers and festival representatives in the Pitching Forum’s official selection. This year’s jury, composed of Gianluca Guzzo (founder and CEO of Mymovies), Darko Nabakov (director of the Makedox Festival), Eleonora Savi (head of Fandango’s non-fiction sector and an executive producer), awarded a total of five prizes.
This year’s Best Bio to B | Doc International Project Award, funded by BPER, was won by Michele Fornasero’s The Last Class, which walked away with €2,000 in development funds. The Best Bio to B | Doc Emilia-Romagna Project Award funded by ADCOM went to Carlotta Piccinini’s A Search for Love, alongside €3,000 toward the rental of technical equipment. The Top Doc Prime Video Channel Award, meanwhile, was bestowed upon The Lawyer by Polish director Maciek Bochniak.
This year’s DAE Documentary Association of Europe Bio to B | Doc Award was handed to Jellyfish “for its vision which turns personal memory into visual material and in order to support the debut of director Vivian Barbullushi and producer Arianna Pecorella and their high-potential project”.
The MIA Market @ Bio to B | Doc Award for the project with the greatest international potential went to Single Land by Paolo Geremei and Giacomo del Buono, who will now gain privileged access to Rome’s MIA Market. Single Land also scooped the Visioni Incontra @ Bio to B | Doc Award, which rewards stories where “the desire for love transcends age and borders”.
There were a few new additions this year, such as the EcoMuvi Award for the most environmentally aware project with the highest potential for sustainable development, which went to Palmaria by Federica Di Giacomo, and the LaserFilm Award for the best project at an advanced stage within the Pitching Forum, nabbed by Alina Marazzi’s A Rose is a Rose.
Last but not least, the Impronta Film Award, which provides concrete support for documentary projects in the final phases, helping them tie up technical loose ends and ready themselves for international distribution, was won jointly by French director Antoine Tassin’s The Amidlisa Affair, and The Lawyer.
This year, the Fiction Factory Audience Award officially became the Bassani Prize, in collaboration with the Giorgio Bassani Foundation. This trophy rewarding original subjects which best epitomise the ability to turn an idea into a story which is ready to take flight, was awarded to Trucraim by Matteo Petecca, Mattia Caprilli and Andrea Rosasco.
For the third consecutive year, Bio to B worked closely with national schools and universities, with several students selected to take part in the Future Talent Jury. Their Special Mention went to Mater by Michael Petrolini and Marco Bergonzi, while the Rising Talent Special Mention for original subjects – which stand out for the originality of their vision, the strength of their writing, and their narrative potential – went to Doppia Elica – Un caso dell’ispettore Pietro Falco by Cristiano Delmonte and Francesco Zappardino.
The full list of prizes is as follows:
Best Bio to B | Doc International Project Award funded by BPER
The Last Class – Michele Fornasero (Italy)
Best Bio to B | Doc Emilia-Romagna Project Award funded by ADCOM
A Search for Love – Carlotta Piccinini (Italy/Switzerland)
Top Doc Prime Video Channel Award
The Lawyer – Maciek Bochniak (Poland/Belgium/France)
DAE Documentary Association of Europe Bio to B | Doc Award
Jellyfish – Vivian Barbullushi (Italy/Albania)
MIA Market @ Bio to B | Doc Award
Single Land – Paolo Geremei, Giacomo del Buono (Italy)
Visioni Incontra @ Bio to B | Doc Award
Single Land – Paolo Geremei, Giacomo del Buono
EcoMuvi Award
Palmaria – Federica Di Giacomo (Italy/France)
LaserFilm Award
A Rose Is a Rose – Alina Marazzi (Italy/Switzerland)
Impronta Film Award (tie-break)
The Amidlisa Affair – Antoine Tassin (France/USA)
The Lawyer – Maciek Bochniak
Bassani Prize
Trucraim – Matteo Petecca, Mattia Caprilli. Andrea Rosasco (Italy)
Future Talent Special Mention
Mater – Michael Petrolini, Marco Bergonzi (Italy/USA)
Rising Talent Special Mention
Doppia Elica – Un caso dell’ispettore Pietro Falco – Cristiano Delmonte. Francesco Zappardino (Italy)
(Translated from Italian)
