Recently, the Embassy of Italy organized Italian Screens, a three-day film festival in several Indian metros, to present the best of Italian cinema to the country. The initiative was part “of a wider project of deepening cultural relations between Italy and India, to ensure a rapprochement with Bollywood and to stimulate meeting opportunities between producers, distributors and creatives of both countries”.

On the sidelines of the event, Roberto Stabile, Head of Special Projects of the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MiC) at Cinecittà, Italy, spoke about the filmy ties between the two countries, and how desi movies and ads shot in Italy, as well as Indian celebrity weddings there, have not just deepened this relationship but also led to a spike in tourists in the region. Excerpts:

Talking about how ‘cinema is a powerful tool to promote culture, lifestyle, and above all, tourism’, Roberto Stabile says, “Thanks to certain local TV series or international blockbusters, off-track spots have become exquisite and precious touristic destinations. For example, in Europe, the Swiss Alps became very popular among Indian tourists. Sometimes, the place might not even have been that mesmerising, but it gained popularity just because it was the house of the main character of a series.”

He adds, “Our target is to attract international productions to locations lesser known to the general public, instead of the usual cultural destinations, that are already overcrowded with tourists, such as Rome, Venice and Florence. A very interesting case study for this is the most recent James Bond movie No Time To Die, which features 14-minute long breathtaking shots of Matera (south of Italy).”

“We have seen a hike in the number of visits of Indian tourists to places such as Tuscany or Milano, where movies or even commercials were shot”. Not just films and ads, Stabile says that “even Indian celeb weddings celebrated in Italy are a fantastic eye-catcher for tourism,” he further says.

He says that they plan to attract more Bollywood filmmakers to Italy, adding, “Very efficient services are being offered by the film commission. The regional funds and the tax credit policy supports up to 40% of foreign productions working in Italy. We plan to expand the trend and become one of the favourite destinations for Bollywood and Indian productions win general.”

Stabile adds that initiatives like Italian Screens are designed to promote the new Italian cinema in the huge Indian market, adding, “We will share with Indian distributors all the policies that the Italian government, through Cinecittà, offers to the distributors who buy Italian movies and screen them in Indian theatres. Not everybody is aware of the fact that, thanks to the Film Distribution Fund, we cover up to 30% of the costs of launch and distribution of the movie up to a maximum of 30,000 Euros (24 lakh, approx).”

With Italy and India having signed a co-production agreement, Stabile says, “We should constantly strengthen the exchange of information and knowledge among the creative directors and the producers. It is crucial to organize throughout the year a dialogue for authors and producers from both the countries.”

Among the most recent Indian films to be shot in Italy is the Prabhas and Pooja Hegde-starrer Radhe Shyam (2022), that was shot in Piedmont

The song Ghungroo from Hrithik Roshan-starrer War (2019) was shot at the Positano Beach on the Amalfi Coast in Italy

The 14-minute long sequence of Daniel Craig performing stunts in Matera (south Italy) in the James Bond film No Time To Die (2021) has cast a spotlight on the lesser-known region