(ANSAmed) - ROME, JUNE 22 - The second edition of Fiesta, the Italian-Spanish Film Festival, will kick off in Mallorca on June 25 and run for two days through June 27 as part of the Mallorca International Film and Media Festival (MIFF), focusing on young talent and promoting new joint Italy-Spain productions.
"There was a time when Italy and Spain were quite close," said Gabriella Carlucci, institutional relations director for MIFF.
"Nowadays the United States has more space in coproductions, as well as in theatres. With other countries it's more difficult; we have just a few relationships with France. The goal of the festival is therefore to promote new collaborations.
This year we've also decided to focus on young people, bringing to the market four first and second Italian works and four first and second works from Spain," she said.
The Italian works are "Feather" directed by Roan Jhonson, "The Habit of Beauty" directed by Mirco Pincelli, "Ho Amici in Paradiso" directed by Fabrizio Maria Cortese, and "I Was a Dreamer" directed by Michele Vannucci.
There will also be two Italian tributes: "Noi e la Giulia" (The Legendary Giulia and Other Miracles) presented by actor and director Edoardo Leo, and the documentary "Cinecittà Babilonia" directed by Marco Spagnoli.
The festival was created through a collaboration between the Film and Media Festival Foundation of Palma de Mallorca and the Italian cultural association Abilis, with the support of the Italian Culture Ministry's General Directorate for Cinema and cooperation of the Roma Lazio Film Commission and the Mallorca Cultural Foundation MIFF.
The festival is also the second time that the "We Are the Future" grant competition will be offered.
The grant programme is aimed at European directors and screenwriters between the ages of 18 and 25.
The winner of the 2016 competition, "Looped Love" directed by Alessandro Mazucco and Valerio Chicco, is currently in post-production. The festival and the competition "are in perfect harmony with the new cinema law that has a lot riding on new talents" said Italian Culture Ministry Undersecretary Antimo Cesaro.
Cesaro said there need to be "new alliances, such as this one with Spain".
"It's the expression of the decline of a country to insist on merit, which we should take for granted. The key word for betting on the future is 'talent'," Cesaro said. Vincent Russo, president of the Mallorca International Film Foundation, said next year will be one of growth.
"Since the 1950s Mallorca has welcomed many film stars, such as Sean Connery, but next year we want to expand the festival and bring Italian film to New York and Dubai as well," Russo said.(ANSAmed).
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