Concreteness. It seems like what's missing from cinema today according to the experts who are gathered at Syracuse for the General states of cinema. State incentives, clear rules and certain times, at a time when the world of cinema is in turmoil and a week ago directors and actors, or in general the acronyms of workers in the world of cinema, gathered in Rome to protest against the government initiatives, intending to reduce public funding for the sector. On the last day, today from Syracuse, the long-awaited manifesto which was supposed to contain indications and guidelines will not be released: it will be developed and presented in the coming weeks.
«We have invested more than 20 million in this sector, we have foreseen another 5 in the latest Finance Law – the President of the Region, Renato Schifani, specified yesterday – Our Island is also ready to help the training of film producers and actors» . «To improve ourselves and go beyond national borders as much as possible, we need to work a lot on quality», said Giampaolo Letta, CEO of Medusa Film. «It is very important that state incentives continue to help promote Italian films, i.e. the so-called distribution tax credit, which has proven decisive for the success of many films that have been released in these two years. Incentive that must also be confirmed for 2024, perhaps with a reward for films released in the summer periods.”
The writers, screenwriters and also the first two actors, Ester Pantano and David Coco, arrived at the States General yesterday. Netina Cristina Cassar Scalia, Vanina Guarrasi's mother, is working all night to finish the ninth book in the series: «I'm writing and it will hopefully be out very soon. It was nice to discover the success he had on TV. I have never described Vanina, everyone has imagined her as they want her. The world of the book is such a private and personal world. When a book is published it becomes the property of the readers. I have always imagined Paolo Malfitano as Michele Placido della Piovra: the writer imagines the characters with different faces.” Stefania Auci also rewards the work done by director Paolo Genovese with «The Lions of Sicily», taken from his bestseller: «An extremely valid work. I am in love with Paolo's choice to select contemporary songs because they made the universality of this story. And how the image of an industrious and vital Palermo was reconstructed. If this continues, we must ask production…”.
Auci focused on artificial intelligence, underlining: «Not knowing how to manage this intelligence places limits of an ethical, moral and above all legal nature. There is a problem, and American authors have already taken legal action to this effect. The companies that oversee the AI do not indicate which texts are provided for learning. That of AI in the field of creativity involves the entire aspect of copyright.”
The writer Gaetano Savatteri has no doubts: «We all have to make an effort to be more inventive and more creative, less repetitive and less predictable, which we often do when writing screenplays and books. We settle a bit into the laziness that we are our own artificial intelligence. Those who out of laziness always press the same button on the computer.”
«The transposition is a wonderful second rereading. There are multiple visions that come together – said Ester Pantano, protagonist of both Makari and Leoni di Sicilia –. And they make it possible to recreate a character that is even new compared to the book. Being Sicilian is not describable but we can offer, as we do for example in Makari, three aspects of different Sicilians. It's nice to enter into the Sicilian tradition and not into tourist brochures.”
From the success of the dramas on air to the upcoming ones. Maria Pia Ammirati, director of Rai Fiction, announces that the drama filmed on Stromboli in May 2022 could soon arrive, when a fire broke out during filming which caused millions of euros in damage: «We experienced a great drama as a public service. With the Strombolians and all the Sicilians we must find a way out of what has been a great problem. In my opinion there is only one way out: let's see how it is made, very beautiful in my opinion, and see if the Strombolians like it and if all Italians will be able to see it. There will be a preview in Stromboli. Then they will decide.”
