New Italian titles are leading Rai Com’s lineup at the next Mipcom in Cannes which will take place between 17-20 October 2022.
Italian pubcaster’s distributor Rai Com is looking forward to the upcoming market with the traditional company stand, a get together area to welcome international buyers and distributors as well as original producers.
Original TV shows, movies, kids and teens, documentaries, feature films and Opera live are ready to be delivered.
TV SHOWS
HEARTS 2 – New Release
(CUORI 2)
Genre: Medical / Costume / Romance
Format: 12 x 50’
Year: 2023
After a successful first season, Hearts 2 period medical drama set in Turin in 1967 is finally available. The show mixes the medical environment with the classic costume drama setting and some shades of old-time romance. Cesare, Head of the Surgery Department at the “Le Molinette” hospital, dreams to perform the first heart transplant in history.
LOLITA LOBOSCO 2 – New Release
Genre: Detective / Crime
Format: 6 x 100’
Year: 2023
Book adaptation from Gabriella Genisi’s detective crime investigation novels. Second season for Lolita Lobosco, a Mediterranean woman, deputy commissioner of the police station in southern Italy city, Bari. Working in a male dominated professional world, Lolita faces and fights all kinds of stereotypes with her exceptional professional skills, strong dedication to work, and good instinct. Lolita is single and differently than in her workplace her private life is populated by women with whom she has conflicting relationships.
DETECTIVE RICCIARDI 2 – New Release
(COMMISSARIO RICCIARDI 2)
Genre: Detective / Crime
Format: 4 X 100’
Year: 2023
Book adaptation from Maurizio de Giovanni, in 1930, the streets of Naples are full of bloody crimes and the young detective cannot bear leaving an unsolved case. Ricciardi has a very special gift as he can visualizes the ghosts of murdered victims and hear their last thoughts, this curse persecutes him day after day. In a foggy Naples, the story is a powerful contamination of genres – police, mystery and supernatural – for a strong and engaging narration that, through a very original protagonist and unforgettable characters, investigates the ultimate meaning of life and pain.
THE LADIES’ PARADISE DAILY 5 – New Release
(PARADISO DELLE SIGNORE DAILY 5)
Genre: Period drama
Format: 160 X 45’
Year: 2022
The Ladies’ Paradise is a revolutionary store in Milan, where beauty and luxury are within everyone’s grasp. Thanks to the intuition of Pietro Mori, the store grew during the economic boom of the ‘50s. Teresa, a store assistant, has the courage to speak up and change her destiny. Day after day, she is challenged by her environment which to her seems both fascinating and hostile.
MINA SETTEMBRE 2 – New Release
Genre: Drama
Format: 12×50’
Year: 2022
Book adaptation from Maurizio de Giovanni, Mina Settembre narrates the life of a social worker always looking for a solution to someone else’s problems. Mina is a woman – strong-willed, but also sweet and fragile – trying to get her life back on track. She resides temporarily at her mother’s house, who is a cold and cynical upper-class woman with a sharp wit. Mina also has to deal with a mystery linked to her father’s past. In fact, after his death, she finds a hidden photo in his studio and wants to find out who the woman portrayed in it is. What if her father had always lied, hiding a second life from everyone? Comedy, sentiments, drama and mystery are the ingredients of this series, which also offers a fresco of Naples – and more generally of Italy – and the varied and surprising humanity that populates it.
VINCENZO MALINCONICO – THE ITALIAN LAWYER
Genre: Detective
Format: 8 x 50’
Year: 2022
Based on the novels by Diego De Silva: take the nicest person you know, then the smartest one, then add the most stupid and childish one, the most generous, the craziest and mix well, you’ll end up with the protagonist of this series! A little reminiscent of Woody Allen, a little of Holden and, in parts, simply himself: Vincenzo Malinconico. Vincenzo is a semi-unemployed bankruptcy lawyer, a semi-divorced husband and above all a great, irresistible philosopher. He’s able to say big things with the air of someone who’s talking nonsense, to face the Camorra in the same way he’d face love: with the same swiveling, alogical, dazed strength. Vincenzo Malinconico wins us over by making us laugh.
NEVER AGAIN
(MAI PIU’ COME PRIMA)
Genre: Crime
Format: 16 x 50’
Year: 2022
Life smiles at Alessandro Scudieri, a brilliant deputy commissioner of the Naples Police Force: he has a wife that he loves, his first child on the way, a growing career, an insidious gang he finally managed to track down… all is going great, but sometimes a man should understand he mustn’t exceed certain limits. His life changes forever when he is involved in a shooting along with his wife Paola, a Judge at the Juvenile Court. Their relationship falls apart after she discovers that Alessandro was secretly following a lead. Scudieri will now be focusing on capturing the underground gang, and gaining back Paola’s trust. It will take all of his skills to be able to shed light on the many mysteries and finally take back, hopefully, his own life.
TV MOVIES
REBIRTH
(RINASCERE)
Genre: Drama
Format: 100’
Year: 2022
Manuel Bortuzzo is a promising young swimmer, he recently moved to Rome to compete with the best members of the Italian national team and one day he manages to get the record that will lead him to the Olympics. In the pool he meets Martina, a young synchronised swimmer. During their first real date at a friend’s birthday party, Manuel and Martina laugh, flirt, and dance together for the first time, dreams are finally coming true. But a few hours later the boy’s life changes dramatically as he is the innocent and unwitting victim of a settling of scores between thugs, two gunshots aimed at the wrong person who is not the target. Manuel ends up in a wheelchair and his career first appears over until his dream of participating in the Olympics is stronger. After so much suffering, despair, and anger, the young athlete finds the strength to move forward and start over.
CAROSELLO CAROSONE
Genre: Period drama
Format: 100’
Year: 2021
New York, 1958. On the Carnegie Hall stage the lights are turned on, ready for the “Sextet” performance. A dream comes true for Italian performing artist Renato Carosone who arrives in America after a long successful world tour. From the Carnegie concert, the documentary takes a look back and rises to the top of international rankings of one of the greatest authors and performers of Italian music. Piano graduated from the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples, Renato Carosone departed for Italian Eastern Africa arriving in Asmara to perform in the Odeon theater and night clubs where he met the love of his life, Lita, a prominent dancer of Venetian origins. The two artists marry, forming a family with Lita’ son Pino whom Renato loves as his own. After the war and back in Italy, Renato is called to form a trio for a new club in Naples, the Shaker Club. Together with Dutch guitarist Peter Van Wood and Neapolitan drummer Gegè Di Giacomo, Renato forms the ”Trio Carosone” which immediately gains resounding success with a repertoire of Italian classics. The success brings long years of international touring and at the highest point of his career, Renato decides to retire to stay close to his family, leaving an indelible mark on music and people’s hearts.
LAURA’S LUCK
(LA FORTUNA DI LAURA)
Genre: Comedy
Format: 100’
Year: 2022
Laura Trabacchi is a successful interior designer who raised her daughter Emma alone, spoiling her and sending her to study abroad. When her relationship with her most important client’s husband is discovered, in an instant Laura loses her home, her reputation and her job. Her former maid Agnese Santini offers hospitality and in order to repay her generosity and to keep on providing for her daughter, Laura proposes to Agnese to replace her as a maid. Taking care of the houses of her former “friends”, the same houses she had furnished, Laura rethinks what matters in life, finds the courage to have a sincere relationship with her daughter and discovers love.
AS DIFFERENT AS TWO PEAS IN A POD
(DIVERSI COME DUE GOCCE D’ACQUA)
Genre: Comedy
Format: 100’
Year: 2022
Gaetano, the young heir of the noble Neapolitan family Heglen, is on his way to greet his relatives, friends and beloved Naples before leaving for Frankfurt. A prestigious job is waiting for him, as decided by his father Giorgio, who’s convinced that he knows best for his son. But Gaetano gets into a car accident, hitting a girl, that will stop his departure. Sharon, a beautiful girl of humble origins has a strong character. In the accident, Gaetano also destroys his father’s vintage car, something very dear to him as it once belonged to his late wife. Since the car was not insured, Gaetano is forced to fulfill Sharon’s requests to replace her in her two jobs, to keep things quiet. Unexpectedly, this incident will prove to be a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. Both for Sharon – oppressed by a parasitic family and Salvatore, a clingy boyfriend she’s no longer in love with and for Gaetano, too busy saying yes to his father to do something for himself. Will Sharon and Gaetano, so different from each other, have the courage to change and even fall in love?
DOCUMENTARY
THE WAR TO COME
(LA GUERRA CHE VERRA’)
Genre: War
Format: 78’
Year: 2022
In Syria an atrocious war is still being fought and many aspects of the conflict have been told in recent years, especially those concerning the enormous price paid by the civilian population. The documentary, through extraordinary access to the most dangerous area of the front, describes a reality that, on the contrary, has been faced in a marginal way: the daily routine of regular soldiers at war. The days of soldier Barak and his comrades pass slowly, reality is different from that drawn in the collective imagination; it is made of tiring preparation of the trenches, cleaning of weapons, stories between fellow soldiers and, rarely, of sudden accelerations and dramas. Over everything reigns the expectation of the end of the war, of a possible return to civilian life, or even just the hope of returning on leave to his family.
TOUCHÉ – WHATEVER IT TAKES
(TOUCHÉ)
Genre: Character Driven / Biography / Personal & POV / Sports
Format: 90 – 52’
Year: 2022
At age nine, Nathalie decides that she would win the Olympics and start building her way to success. Nathalie shares her dream with her father Filippo, an eccentric, wealthy and charismatic man. Filippo who is Nathalie’s obsessive supporter, hires the legendary coach Daniel Levasseur that will help the athlete -through gruelling training sessions and electro-stimulations- train and mould her extraordinary body, while rushing around the globe to attend competitions, following gurus, participating to propitiatory rituals. In 2019, at age 34 and against all the odds, Nathalie finally wins a gold medal and finally becomes World Champion.
MIMMO PALADINO – THE LANGUAGE OF SIGNS
(MIMMO PALADINO. IL LINGUAGGIO DEI SEGNI)
Gender: Biography / Art
Length: 60’
Year: 2022
The doc-film Mimmo Paladino, The Language of signs aims at tracing a portrait of one of the most prolific multifaceted artists on the international contemporary art scene. Father of an eclectic and multilinguistic art, ranging from sculpture to painting, from cinema to theatre, from graphic art to photography, Mimmo Paladino carries out what Italian art critic Achille Bonito Oliva defined as “cultural nomadism”, in other words the inherent freedom of the artists to relentlessly move from one stylistic ground to another. Paladino quotes, “For me nomadism means proceeding with the utmost freedom of technique and invention through the various territories of art in both geographical and temporal terms”.
THE INFINITE. LUIGI GHIRRI’S UNIVERSE
(INFINITO. L’UNIVERSO DI LUIGI GHIRRI)
Genre: Biopic / Photography
Length: 52’-70’
Year: 2022
Luigi Ghirri, internationally renowned Italian photographer, also wrote throughout his entire life. His photography is reflected in his writing, which is at the same time affirmation of poetics, existential argument, diary that questions the present. The documentary retraces the crucial phases of Ghirri’s life, a journey from places in the province, a study of lands, water, hills, infinite horizons.
SHOCKING AZZURRO
(AZZURRO SHOCKING)
Genre: Sport / Gender / Social issues
Length: 50’
Year: 2022
Azzurro Shocking was born to tell a story that is still unknown to many. Thanks to the repertoire material from international archives and Teche Rai, the documentary narrates an adventure that began over a century ago, through a sport movement that was often ignored, sometimes derided, and also opposed by national and international regulations: a journey through time, through the commitment of women footballers, managers and professionals who have allowed the women’s football movement to gain space and visibility, from the suburban space to the record ratings scored by the women’s national team.
ARTS AND CULTURE / OPERA LIVE
BORIS GODUNOV
Genre: Opera
Length: 135’
Year: 2022
Mussorgsky’s disturbing fresco on the brutality and solitude of power, inspired by Pushkin, has a strong bond with Teatro Alla Scala: this was where it debuted in Italy in 1909 and where Claudio Abbado put his name to a memorable edition directed by Yuri Lyubimov on 7 December 1979. Abbado was assisted by Riccardo Chailly, who today, for his ninth season inauguration, has chosen to conduct for the first time this title of profound humanity in which personal drama is reflected in collective tragedy, enriched by his choice of the first version of the opera. The stage direction of Kasper Holten, former Director of Covent Garden, adds a view of the history of Russia, heightening the emotional experience with a reflection on the value of memory and the bearing of witness. An impressive live event from Teatro Alla Scala for the grand opening season 2022/2023
FEATURE FILMS
BLA BLA BABY
Genre: Comedy
Director: Fausto Brizzi
Cast: Alessandro Preziosi
Length: 94’
Year: 2022
An inhumane scream in the night. A mother and a father suddenly waking up. “What does he have now? Did he lose his dummy?” “Is he thirsty?” “Stomach ache?” “Did he fall from his bed?” “Or does he just want to be annoying?” What if a man with the right answer existed? A man who speaks with babies. BLA BLA BABY is the first film in which children have their own say. Luca, a janitor who works in the nursery school of a multinational corporation, finds out he has a superpower: he can speak with babies. From his point of view, they speak with him normally, however, for everybody else they are “jabberwocky”. Thanks to his talent and to his little helpers, he will win over one of the babies’ mothers. In the meantime, he will save the corporation and his project from an evil CEO.
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, KISSES AT BREAKFAST
(NOTTI IN BIANCO, BACI A COLAZIONE)
Genre: Comedy
Length: 90’
Year: 2021
Director: Francesco Mandelli
Cast: Ilaria Spada, Alessio Vassallo, Giordano De Plano, Tess Masazza, Niccolo’ Senn
Matteo is in his early forties, his second life, that of father and cartoonist, began when he fell in love with Paola, leaving his job as a technician in the local council, following Paola to live in a house in the countryside. Paola, on the other hand, is a beautiful woman, also in her forties. Since she can remember, she has always wanted to write novels. They are very different, but they complete each other. Their ramshackle balance, reached after ten years and three daughters, begins to falter when Sara, Matteo’s old apprentice, unexpectedly gives him the chance to publish his first comic book as long as he moves to Paris. At the same time, Paola attracts Max, a handsome dog trainer with an adventurous life. To what extent are they willing to risk, knowing that they are risking what they love most?
NATURAL LEFTY (MANCINO NATURALE)
Genre: Drama
Length: 107’
Year: 2022
Director: Salvatore Allocca
Cast: Claudia Gerini, Franesco Colella, Massimo Ranieri, Alessio Parinelli, Katia Ricciarelli
Isabella lives a modest and frustrating existence in a working-class neighbourhood in Latina. Her husband has been dead for three years, leaving her alone with their son Paolo, named after his favourite football player, Paolo Rossi. Paolo, like the great footballer, has a phenomenal left foot, since her husband’s death Isabella is obsessed with the idea of making him a professional footballer. When Isabella finds out about a competition that could give Paolo the opportunity to show off in front of the main Italian talent scouts, she does everything in her power to enroll him in the participants list. She will be a victim of unscrupulous people, ready to take advantage of her ambition, but for the sake of her son, Isabella will have to ask herself if what she is doing is really in Paolo’s interest or if she is just pushing him towards a dream that is not his.
KIDS and TEENS
TAKE FLIGHT 2
(GIU’ DAL NIDO)
Genre: Animation
Length: 13 x 2’
Year: 2022
Tino is a little bird that has not yet flown: he is scared of heights. One day, while waiting for his mother to return with their dinner to the nest Tino sees a beautiful little bird -Pia- singing on the branch in front of him. Day after day, they sing together and keep each other company, until one morning Pia flies off. At that moment, Tino decides: he will get over his fears and learn to fly. The series is written and produced for both 16:9 format and VR to offer an immersive and interactive educational experience. The kids will learn about the birds and trees, but most importantly how to get over their fears, relate to others and start to identify feelings and emotions.
INCREDIBLE! – New Release
Genre: Live action / 3D Animation
Format: 13 x 5’
Year: 2022
INCREDIBLE! is a mixed live and animation series created to explain children (and curious adults) the world of science. The program can also be an educational support tool for teachers and parents. In each episode we will explore the world led by scientific consultants, Andrea Vico and Vichi De Marchi. Ecology, physics, chemistry, but also technology and botany will no longer have secrets! Together with Andrea Vico and a young scientist there are Key, Foon and Tuby, three characters in 3D animation with the task of explaining the scientific concept in a playful, fun and synthetic way. From theory to practice: at the end of each episode Andrea and the young lady scientist will carry out an experiment that can be easily done at home. The mood is playful, lively and with examples inspired by everyone’s daily life.
FOOD WIZARDS – New Release (Presented at MipJunior)
Genre: Animation
Format: 10 x 11’
Year: 2022
A journey inside the human body to help children understand the importance of proper nutrition values. Ginny, Ham and Pc have the magical power to enter people’s bodies in order to counteract the effects of improper nutrition, fighting against the “bad guys”, that are the Toxins and the Metabolism Monsters. Fascinating adventures in our body so we can better see what happens, depending on what, when and how much we eat.
THE LITTLE BLUE DOT (IL PUNTINO BLU) – New Release
Genre: Science & technology
Format: 12 x 10’
Year: 2022
A journey into the future through science, space and stars. In the twelve episodes Linda Raimondo, a young physics student, known by the very young Instagram users as @astro_linda, will talk about science on social media. She will take us to faraway places, beyond the frontiers of space that man has always dreamed of reaching and crossing. The exploration will begin inside the solar system, to follow the “life” of the probe that will arrive on Mars, from its design to its launch. Spectacular images taken from the archives of NASA and ESA, 3D reconstructions originating from the CAD projects of NASA and ESA, special guests and the “pill” dedicated to Massimo Temporelli’s technology, will make it more fun to learn, understand what happened -in the last millennia- to our Universe, how to preserve the Earth, to date the only planet that can host life in the form we know best, and how to “build” our future.
JAMS 4
Genre: Live action
Format: 20 x 25’
Year: 2022
Friendship and inclusiveness will be the themes of the new season. The kids will also face the final exam and graduate.
KIDS VET ACADEY 2
Genre: Live action
Format: 12 x 15’
Year: 2022
A NEW SEASON! Six young veterinary apprentices – between nine and 12 – together with Veterinarian Doc Renato Assin, experience a series of amusing theoretical and practical lessons in the world of animals. In each episode the young veterinarians discover new things with exotic, domesticated, and also wild pets. Through the experiences lived in the field by the six little vets, the young audience at home will be able to learn a lot of things about the anatomy, physiology, behavior of many animal species, but above all, they will be able to take better care of them and understand their world and know how to react if they get sick or injured. The program is set at a veterinary clinic and at some shelters for animals and each episode also includes an extra competitive component: the Kid Vets will be involved in adrenaline pressure tests at the end of each episode.
THERE ARE CROCODILES IN THE SEA – New Release
(NEL MARE CI SONO COCCODRILLI)
Genre: Animation
Length: 30’
Year: 2022
Freely based on the novel by Fabio Geda Nel mare ci sono i coccodrilli Storia vera di Enaiatollah Akbari, published by Baldini and Castoldi, translated in 31 countries. Enaiatollah is nine years old the day his mother decides to save him from the Talibans who claim him as a debt payment. His only hope, once he’s left alone by his mother, is to learn to get by and move on until he’ll manage to find a place to live in. Enaiatollah, starts a journey in search of a better life, an odyssey in five chapters: starting from the village of Nava, in Afghanistan, he will cross Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Greece to finally arrive in Italy. We look at these countries through the eyes of a bewildered child: Enaiat is no longer able to recognize the reality in which he finds himself. Languages, places and people’s faces all appear transfigured to him. The meeting with Sufi, a child a little older than him, changes his life. Sufi becomes a source of support and of encouragement, especially when the two Will have to go in separate ways. Over the course of his long journey, Enaiat will showcase all of his determination, his intelligence and his kindness.
CLASSICS
With a very diversified editorial library, Rai Com runs a catalogue of 2K titles, 1300, feature films and over 4K hours of TV programs. Among its Classics, Rai Com also distributes in Italy and in the rest of the world the famous Titanus and IIF libraries, which include 700 titles.