Organised by the UNIC member ANEC - Associazione Nazionale Esercenti Cinema - in collaboration with ANICA - the Italian trade association representing the Italian film and audiovisual industry - the event spans over 4 days and gathers professionals from production, distribution, exhibition, press, technical industries, advertising and marketing, film academy and institutions.
This edition hosted a series of bilateral seminars Italy-France, with representatives from the French Cinema Federation, Unifrance and distributors operating in France and Italy. The panel on 3 December focused on industry trends and nationwide initiatives, such as the national cinema days, the need for a shared release calendar and the overall structure of the exhibition sector in both markets. On 4 December a second bilateral panel took place, related to the institutional and regulatory framework, such as tax credit, public subsidies and film education.
On the second day Sonia Ragone, UNIC Industry Relations & Research Manager, was invited to present the UNIC Women's Cinema Leadership Programme, the European mentoring programme now in its eighth edition aimed. The programme has inspired the Italian mentoring initiative LED Leader Esercenti Donne, launched in 2023 by ANEC, now in its second edition. Within the Italian mentoring programme a new survey among 400 cinemas has been conducted by Ergo Research, analysing perception of working conditions in cinemas for female and male employees, such as career evolution, work/life balance, gender equality, etc. A series of different panels followed, one on a new national initiative focusing on short films and a second one on the reform of a existing national film education initiatives. UNIC had the opportunity to promote the EDCF Conference 2025, which will take place next February in Italy for the first time.
On Wednesday evening, UNIC was invited to the Award Ceremony “Golden Tickets” where the Italian film industry and the city of Sorrento gathered to honour the best Italian films and most successful cinemas of the year. UNIC was proud to deliver seven awards to the cinemas with the highest number of admissions, according to their screen number and the town population.
The Sorrento convention was also the opportunity to organise a joint get-together with the Italian attendees of the UNIC mentoring programme and those of LED – Leader Esercenti Donne.
The convention also included other industry panels, as well as studios’ and distributors’ slate presentations. Italian cinema professionals were optimistic on the 2024 results and the bright future of the Big Screen.
You can find more information about the convention here.