Italy and Serbia Sign Agreement on Film Co-Production
A long-awaited bilateral agreement on film co-production between Italy and Serbia was signed yesterday.
As a Serbia-based company that is part of ILBE, the international production company based in Rome, we are delighted to announce that yesterday, on March 21, 2023, the Agreement on film co-production between Serbia and Italy was signed at the Palace of Serbia. This further strengthens the collaboration in cinematography, as well as cultural relations between our two countries.
As was stated by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Agreement was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Minister of Culture, Maja Gojković, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy, Antonio Tajani, as part of Tajani's visit to Serbia and the realization of the Forum for Business and Scientific Cooperation between Serbia and Italy.
By signing the Agreement on film co-production, the relations in cinematography between these two countries, and therefore cultural relations, are further strengthened.
The long-awaited Agreement was preceded by numerous panel discussions in which representatives of our studio participated, at film festivals in Venice, Rome, and Belgrade. The Agreement was officially announced at the premiere of the film "Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend" at the opening of the Italian-Serbian Film Festival in Belgrade, in the company of the Artistic Director of the festival, Gabriella Carlucci, the executive producers of the film, our founders Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi, the Italian ambassador to Serbia, Luca Gori, and the Serbian ambassador to Italy, Goran Aleksić.
This agreement is of exceptional importance, as cooperation in the field of film contributes to the development of cultural relations between the two countries, anddue to the evident need to update the legal framework of cooperation in cinematography.
The co-productions refer to cinematographic or audiovisual works, regardless of genre (feature, animated, documentary), in accordance with the laws and regulations of both countries. The agreement is implemented by the Ministry of Culture and the Film Center of Serbia for the Government of Serbia, and by the Italian Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Italian Ministry of Culture for the Government of the Republic of Italy.
According to the signed Agreement, these co-productions will be considered as "national works" in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations in Serbia and Italy, and will enjoy all the benefits arising from the applicable laws and regulations in the territories of Serbia and Italy.
To facilitate the implementation of this Agreement, a joint commission composed of an equal number of representatives of the competent authorities and experts, which will meet in principle once every two years, is to be established. The Joint Commission will assess the existence of a comprehensive balance between the number of co-productions, the amount of investment, co-producers and technical and artistic participation. The co-productions made under this Agreement will usually be presented at international festivals by the majority co-producer.
New Projects To Be Realized Very Soon
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, Maja Gojković, spoke today with Gabriella Carlucci, founder of the Italian-Serbian Film Festival, about the possibilities for cooperation and further steps based on the Agreement on film co-production that was signed yesterday.
"We have good cooperation, numerous Italian companies are present here in Serbia, in the fields of culture, filming and animation production, but this is a true step forward and I am glad that we signed such an important agreement yesterday. I also hope that we will implement it very soon and that both the Italian and Serbian cinema will benefit from it," said Gojković.
The Minister of Culture said she expects the first co-production projects to be realized very soon and she is especially pleased that it will be about the famous painter Amedeo Modigliani.
"I hope that a large part of it will be filmed in Serbia. The special charm of this project is that there are hidden data about the life of Modigliani which are connected to Serbia, and that is his friendship with our great painter Sava Šumanović," said Gojković.
Our friend, Gabriella Carlucci, expressed satisfaction after her meeting with Minister Gojković, as well as yesterday’s signing of the bilateral agreement.
The original news and more information about it can be found on the website of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia: