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Mattia Oddone • Head of Cinema and TV International Sales, Rai Com

"The best place to sell Italian films is Italy"

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- Rai Com, international sales arm of Italy's pubcaster Rai, brings a powerful slate to Rome's The Business Street. Cineuropa spoke with Mattia Oddone, Head of Cinema and TV International Sales

Mattia Oddone  • Head of Cinema and TV International Sales, Rai Com

The sun is shining in Rome, and for Rai Com, the international sales arm of Italy's pubcaster Rai, it's not just a mere weather report. The provisional balance-sheet is positive for the company entering the last lap of The Business Street (TBS), Rome IFF's film market which will end tomorrow in Rome.

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At the Italian market, Rai Com has a powerful slate, including festival titles as Francesco Munzi's Black Souls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Munzi
film profile
]
and Mario Martone's Leopardi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mario Martone
film profile
]
, both selected at Venice (Competition) and Toronto (Official Selection) and the awaited Oriana, Marco Turco's take on world famous Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, in post-production.

On the beautiful roof terrace of TBS' headquarters in Bernini Bristol Hotel Cineuropa spoke with Mattia Oddone, Head of Cinema and TV International Sales at Rai Com.

Cineuropa: What do you think about this edition of TBS?
I would say it's very likable. It's the right place to work, there's a lot of attention for Italian productions: foreign distributors are searching for Italian titles because they know they will find good products here. You can see people busy, everyone is trying to understand what's in the line-ups, screenings are packed. I think this is the right direction for TBS: the best place to sell Italian films is Italy. When I was in Pusan, many buyers told me 'we'll talk about Italian films in Rome'. The organizers worked a lot on it and they got very good results.

What's in your line-up here in Rome?
We have a solid line-up of recent titles that have been previewed in Venice and Toronto as Black Souls and Leopardi, but also Ivano De Matteo's The Dinner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivano De Matteo
film profile
]
, Gabriele Salvatores' Italy in Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Pupi Avati's A Golden Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and two features film in post-production, the female-driven Latin Lover from Cristina Comencini and the awaited Oriana from Marco Turco.

How's the provisional balance-sheet of your participation to this edition of TBS?
Definitely positive. We have closed a pre-sale for Oriana with Taiwan and a number of deals for Black Souls, including Norway, Taiwan and Portugal, with ongoing negotiations for Turkey, Spain, Canada and US. We sold Pif's The Mafia only Kills in Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierfrancesco Diliberto
film profile
]
to Japan, I'm very happy about it, and we expect to close other deals by the end of the market.

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