The region of Rome has inaugurated the “Lazio, Land of Cinema” Week at Expo Dubai, with the aim to increase foreign investment opportunities and sustain the international partnerships of Lazio’s enterprises on foreign markets, especially on Arabic, Asian, Mediterranean and North African ones. The event is carried out and financed by Lazio region, in collaboration with Cinecittà and Roma Lazio Film Commission.

Lazio is the first Italian region to join the Italy Pavilion with the aim of supporting its innovation and research economic ecosystem, and promoting the excellencies of the territory which contribute to making Lazio the first Italian region in terms of monetary and occupational value in the sector of cultural and creative industries.

Last year, Lazio confirmed its position (first in Italy and second in Europe), for investments in the film industry, with an allocation of approximatively 30 million euros in 2021.

“We haven’t stopped during the pandemic and we will continue to invest in the audiovisual sector also in the future: Lazio is more and more a “Land of Cinema”. We have encouraged the creation of new productions to enhance the beauties of our territory and take a look beyond the borders, generating high-quality works appreciated and awarded in Italy and abroad. We want this number to grow more. For this very reason, we are promoting initiatives in schools, neighborhoods and territories, through the funding of training courses for our talents and more modern and up to date cinemas. Cinema is a tool to make Lazio known in the world, and Expo Dubai is, without any doubt, an important opportunity to promote our cinema and region”, said Nicola Zingaretti, President of Lazio region.

Turning The Spotlight On Lazio Cinema’s Artisans

The great exhibition “Lazio Land of Cinema – The Land of Magic Craftsmanship”, curated by Clara Tosi Pamphili and Alessio de Navasques – the two founders of the A.I Artisanal Intelligence project – turns the spotlight on Lazio’s Cinema activities for Expo Dubai 2020. It is about cultural re-discovering through the exhibition of objects and props crafted by great professionals of the sector, like artisans, creative workers, artists and technicians. The exhibition is also an opportunity to offer to young people the chance to know and get acquainted with jobs that involve extraordinary skills and professionalism.

The exhibition shows the past, the present and the future of Lazio just like episodes of a series, with a unique scenography where objects, costumes, and accessories are sided by a background of pictures of production and training centres of the region, like Centro Sperimentale di Fotografia (Experimental Photography Center), managed by Lazio Film Commission, and the Gian Maria Volonté School.

“The exhibition ‘Lazio Land of Cinema – The Land of Magic Craftsmanship’, promoted by Lazio region, celebrates precisely those artisan businesses that pass on since generations the ability to work for the world of cinema at an international level”, says Quirino Briganti, coordinator of Expo 2020 Dubai for Lazio region.

Symbols of the exhibition are the three Pinocchios of Italian cinema: that of Luigi Comencini with the wooden puppet of the artisan Bartolucci, who worked together with the costume designer Piero Gherardi. The costume created by Oscar-awarded Danilo Donati, for the interpretation of Roberto Benigni in 2002 and the Oscar-nominated version by Matteo Garrone, with the costume created by Massimo Cantini Parrini with Sartoria Tirelli (Tirelli Taioloring), funded by the regional project “Lazio Cinema International”.

For this particular project Lazio region has allocated about 53 million euros on six calls since 2016. The seventh call is in a preliminary phase and will have further repercussions in terms of financial support to companies, whose works will add to the 133 co-productions financed so far. The project involves 188 foreign production companies, from 29 countries. Films funded by “Lazio Cinema International” have been awarded 313 prizes in prestigious national and international festivals, as well as 382 nominations.