General Director of Veneto Film Commission and President of Italian Film Commissions, Jacopo Chessa discusses support for films at the Festival, the regional fund, and the national network of collaborations that makes Veneto’s territories stars on the big screen.
Many films at the Festival bear the signature of the Veneto Film Commission. What is the significance of the different projects presented, and which areas were involved in filming?
This year we are indeed present with many films, starting with Origin by Yann Arthus-Bertrand at the pre-opening, then Il rapimento di Arabella by Carolina Cavalli and Duse by Pietro Marcello, both in Competition, and also In the Hand of Dante by Julian Schnabel, shot in Venice, Padua, and Verona, and presented Out of Competition. Added to these are, in the Orizzonti Shorts section, Kushta Mayn, la mia Costantinopoli by Venetian director Nicolò Folin, starring Roberto Citran; in the Critics’ Week selection, Walking Hours by Federico Cammarata and Vicenza-born Filippo Foscarini; and in the Venice Days, under the “Confronti” section, the documentary Manara by Valentina Zanella.
We are of course very satisfied: it is clear evidence of the work carried out by the Film Commission in all stages of each project’s development and, thanks to the regional fund, also in the financing phase. These films showcase a fascinating mix of star power, stories, and the varied landscapes of Veneto, in addition to Venice, which of course stands on its own. For example, in Il rapimento di Arabella, made in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna Film Commission, the spotlight is on the lesser-known provinces, with locations such as Cittadella, Battaglia Terme, Roana, Rosolina, and Villorba, where Tadao Ando’s architecture for Fabrica is clearly recognizable. Rereading territories through cinema is increasingly interesting and important. There is a real strategy here: broadening the focus to all areas of the region and acting as mediators between public administrations, private entities, and productions. At the same time, we are building a network of professionals and crews capable of covering all stages of each project, with particular attention to training in film industry professions. All of these elements together make the region truly attractive.
How has the film system in Veneto developed in recent years?
I would say more specifically in the last five years, since Veneto was one of the few Italian regions without a Film Commission, but only a regional office for the sector, which however did not support productions nor scouting. What happened is that we finally planted a flag on the cinema map – the flag of Veneto, which wasn’t there before. And in just five years, the results, as already mentioned, speak eloquently for themselves.
The director, fascinated by Venice for over forty years—so much so that he has dedicated two books to it—through this film recounts the city’s uniqueness, suspended between sky and water. An extended version of the short film chosen by Carlo Ratti to screen in the &#...
Carolina Cavalli’s second feature is a dramedy telling the story of Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli), a 28-year-old misfit convinced that her life has taken the wrong turn. When she meets Arabella, a seven-year-old girl who has run away from home, Holly comes to believe she has f...
Two eras, two worlds, one mystery. In the 14th century, Dante Alighieri seeks refuge in Sicily to finish his Comedy, tormented by elusive inspiration and a consuming fate. Seven centuries later in New York, a writer (Oscar Isaac) is asked to authenticate an ancient manuscript...
Eleonora Duse (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), a legendary figure of Italian theater with a rebellious, proud, and strikingly modern personality, who lived between 1858 and 1924, is portrayed through the eyes of her daughter during the final season of her life. Her career is now behi...
“Cinema in its purest form, caught between light and dark, in which political urgency is transfigured into a hypnotic experience”: this is how Beatrice Fiorentino, curator of SIC, describes Waking Hours, the only documentary in this year’s Critcs’ Week...
How is your Fund structured?
Ours is a generalist fund, meaning it is open to all formats. For 2025, we have allocated six million euros, and we hope to confirm the same amount for 2026. It is a fund that covers a good percentage of expenses, exactly 50% of production costs. Being an ERDF fund, and therefore complex to manage, it is mainly aimed at structured production companies, and it guarantees the financing of around twenty feature films per year. Our fund is positioned in the upper tier of Italian funds.
Another successful model is the Italian Film Commissions, of which you are now President: a virtuous example of cooperation beyond individual peculiarities. In what direction are you heading, and what goals have already been achieved?
The Italian Film Commissions is a network of Film Commissions from all regions. Our primary goal is to act as an institutional interlocutor with the Ministry of Culture and Cinecittà, in order to foster both internationalization and production activities in Italy. One example is the portal Italy for Movies, managed by Cinecittà, which presents all the different Film Commissions along with their contacts and information on opportunities, locations, calls, funds, and news. At the same time, the association has its own development strategy, mainly aimed at establishing partnerships with other countries, supporting the mobility of our producers, and promoting international co-production together with national institutions. Regarding collaboration between individual Film Commissions, it is true that we are now witnessing a renewed form of collective action. The rivalries of the past, which in a way helped each Film Commission grow in order to stand up to competition, no longer make sense today. If a producer is torn between two regions, nine times out of ten they end up shooting in both and receiving two funds! So cooperation is happening naturally, even before being intentional. That said, it is clear that each of us still does everything possible to be more attractive than the others, so as to bring the best film productions to our region. That’s only normal.
At the Festival, you also host a space at the Hotel Excelsior, which for many years has been at the center of the collateral program. How do you design the schedule of countless meetings and presentations held there throughout the Festival?
It is a space that belongs to the Film Commission but above all to the Veneto Region, with which we co-develop the programming. It is an open space, where we host events closely related to cinema, such as the Box Office panel, but also other content not exclusively linked to cinema. We feature books, festivals, exhibitions, and other events of various kinds, involving authors, institutions, consortia, and cultural associations from all over the region.
