Bulgaria and Italy will work together to develop cinematographic and audiovisual co-productions

Bulgaria and Italy will work together to develop cinematographic and audiovisual co-productions. This became clear during the working visit to Rome of the Minister of Culture Krustyu Krastev on September 25. He held talks with the president of the world-famous Cinecittà film studio, Chiara Sbarigia, as well as with the producer Francesco Martino de Carles. In the course of the talks, specific opportunities were identified for Bulgaria and Italy to cooperate on cinematographic and audiovisual co-productions, as well as their distribution in Bulgaria and Italy.

During the meeting it was underlined that at European level Italy has a direct link with the National Film Centre and in this aspect the cooperation could be even easier. The different funding systems in the two countries were discussed, as well as the Italian experience in co-productions with other European countries. The participants in the meeting agreed that this example could also be applied to the Bulgaria-Italy partnership.

Minister Krastev, President Sbarigia and Producer de Carles agreed that our countries have excellent achievements in cinema and we should continue to develop projects together that would be very well received by the audience of both countries.

According to Minister Krastev, there is also a need for a more comprehensive review of the legislation in this area in Bulgaria, and it would be good to synchronise all the relevant regulations together with the Film Industry Act, and also to consider the possibility of synchronisation between Bulgarian and Italian regulations.

Successful good examples of Bulgarian-Italian co-productions were already mentioned.

"Bulgarian and Italian producers work very well and if given a certain framework they would be further facilitated. When the market is regulated, everyone will work much more transparently and more easily", Francesco Martino de Carles pointed out.

Minister Krustev pointed out that it is expected that at the end of the autumn there will be more clarity regarding the clearing of the regulations related to domestic film production. He invited representatives of Italian cinema to visit Bulgaria to take part in a public discussion with representatives of the sector in November. The Minister expressed his wish to examine in more detail the various instruments for cooperation between the world-famous Cinecittà studio and the National Film Centre.

Minister Krastev also visited the 16th edition of the Festival of Bulgarian Cinema in Rome. During the event, the Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova was a special guest and had a meeting with the audience. The event is organized by the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Rome with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, under the patronage of the Bulgarian Embassy in Italy.