08/07/2005

The first Italian internet project for independent films, a response to the fast technological progress, is called Neche.
The company Caro Film has just launched this online pioneer to distribute independent films and give non-Hollywood productions a chance to access the market of 'on demand' pay-films.

The website www.neche.it allows the viewer to choose from a list of titles searchable by format (features, shorts, and documentaries) or genre. Some very interesting Italian authors are already on the list as well as a series of horror films. Film-lovers will really be able to (re)discover some cult movies, provided they have an ADSL internet connection and a video player (which they can download for free). The electronic ticket costs €2.50 for a feature and €1.25 for a documentary, while shorts are free. However, these good prices are not as competitive as the ones on the Rosso Alice portal.

Only a few weeks ago, Telecom Italia and Mikado signed an agreement to broadcast films on the web. Rosso Alice allows 300 up to spectators at a time to watch a selection of Mikado premieres online by 'streaming'. Six months after the theatrical release of these films (distributed by Mikado with the Time Code brand name), they will be available on Rosso Alice as pay-films. So far, Rosso Alice has 100 titles listed by genre.

(Translated from Italian)