“We will see a new era, a modern cultural Renaissance. Italy will recover quicker than others – we are at our best when we have to roll up our sleeves,” said the Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini, announcing the Government’s vision of Italy’s cultural reboot. Behind the words there were tangible actions too, with the Italian Parliament approving an initial €320 million for the film and cultural sectors last April, on top of the over €6 billion in funding pledged in the form of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Mission 1 – Digitalisation, Innovation, Competitiveness and Culture). The importance with which the government views culture within this recovery is clear from the news that the Colosseum has been chosen as the venue for the start of the G20 on 29 July, with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi set to welcome the world’s leaders to surely one of the most iconic cultural landmarks on the planet.

NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PLAN: CULTURE

The scope of the measures included in the Recovery Plan stretches to over €6 billion (€6.675 billion, to be exact), which is indicative of the Government’s determination to invest in the cultural sector – one that it believes can make a key contribution to the economic recovery and growth of the Country. The funding contained in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is distributed as follows: €4.275 billion in investment, combined with the €1.46 billion included in the Grand Strategic Plan for culture, which is designed to renovate 14 sites of interest throughout Italy.

FILM FUND

Focusing on the film industry, the plans suggest efforts to kickstart the sector. There is €455 million to invest, with €300 million to be used for the cinematographic and audiovisual sectors, in order to make these more competitive and level up the film studios of Cinecittà, of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and of the Cineteca Nazionale. These resources must lead to an increase in the quality and quantity of Italy’s production activities, facilitate the process of digitalisation and boost the Country’s ability to attract large Italian, European and international productions, in addition to promoting educational and training activities. In addition to this €300 million, a further €155 million will be used to promote the recovery of the wider cultural and creative sectors, by incentivising innovation and the technological and green transformations of the operators in the sector. The aim is to stimulate demand, encourage citizens to actively participate in culture, improve the eco-system around the cultural sector and promote innovation and eco-design. Last but not least is the project to develop and enhance the Venice Biennale, which is set to become a permanent hub of national and international excellence thanks to investment to the tune of €170 million through the Recovery Plan.

TENDERSTORIES

Tendercapital has always viewed film as a sector of strategic importance for the cultural industry as a whole, with the creation of Tenderstories by chairman Moreno Zani indicative of this vision. Tenderstories is an incubator specialising in the creation and development of original stories and innovative content with global reach. Supporting culture offers us the chance to enter a market with ample scope for development and which is set to become a crucial player in Italy’s economic reboot – particularly in the wake of the upcoming investment. Since its inception in 2018, Tenderstories has produced original editorial content such as the film painting “Yugen”, directed by Martha Fiennes and starring Salma Hayek, which was previewed during the Venice Film Festival. Venice was also the venue for the next release from Tenderstories: the film “Padrenostro”, directed by Claudio Noce and starring Pierfrancesco Favino, who won the Volpi Cup for best male performance for the role. Tenderstories – which is led by Malcom Pagani – will be featured at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, where “Marx può aspettare” will preview. Co-produced by Tenderstories, the film is directed by Marco Bellocchio, who will be awarded with the honorary Palme d’Or at this year’s event. Tenderstories’ tireless search for cultural innovation and stories to tell on the silver screen has recently seen it invest in a new project based on the life of Lucio Dalla. It will be a unique initiative due to the fact that the project will be directed by Bolognese director Cesare Cremonini, who will be taking the chair for the first time and who is writing the film himself. As such, it promises to become a subject of discussion in the film world from the moment the camera starts rolling.