VIWM TRAINING: a training program in collaboration with RUFA for the development of skills in the Italian audiovisual industry

Visit Italy With Movies is a digital project by Minerva Pictures, in partnership with RUFA, a film production and distribution company celebrating its seventieth anniversary this year. The project aims to promote the internationalization of Italy’s image through cinema and audiovisual content, emphasizing its significant value for the cultural and tourism industries.

Catering to cinephiles, lovers of Italian culture, and tourists worldwide, Visit Italy With Movies provides a virtual space where users can discover and, with a click, explore the locations where their favorite films were shot. The platform also shares anecdotes and trivia surrounding film scenes, actors, and directors, offering insights both in front of and behind the camera. From territories to films and vice versa, it presents cineturismo in a novel light, with the goal of supporting Italian cultural production abroad and increasing the presence of Italian locations in foreign productions.

The VIWM TRAINING 2024 project, in collaboration with RUFA, is an initiative focused on fostering skills related to the production, distribution, and promotion of Italian audiovisual productions. The program aims to develop new roles in the audiovisual industry, such as Showrunner, Organizer, and Location Manager, active in both Italian and foreign projects.

Through the VIWM TRAINING platform, a free version of the Visit Italy With Movies platform tailored for universities, instructors, and students have access to a starting catalog of approximately 200 titles. These films can be screened for educational activities, accompanied by a self-paced online course. The course delves into the importance of Italian cinema abroad and its role in the international cinematic landscape through case studies, expert interviews, clips, full-length films available for streaming, and practical exercises. The course is curated by Professor Francesco Pennica, a director of photography, filmmaker, and producer of films, documentaries, music videos, series, and television programs produced both in Italy and abroad.

Among the iconic titles that have shaped the history of Italian cinema and are available on the platform for use in the course:

1. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Ferrara)
2. The Conformist (Rome)
3. Caliber 9 (Milan)
4. One Hundred Steps (Sicily)
5. The Seduction of Mimi (Catania, Turin)
6. The Marquis of Grillo (Rome, Monterano Lucca, Amelia)
7. Too Bad She’s Bad (Rome)
8. Adua and Her Friends (Rome)
9. The Sunday Woman (Turin)
10. Poverty and Nobility (Naple)
11. La Bella di Lodi (Modena, Bologna, Venice and Lodi)
12. The Bloodstained Shadow (Veneto)
13. Be sick… It’s free (Rome)
14. The Visit (San Benedetto Po, Rome, Ferrara)
15. Come Have Coffee with Us (Luino, Cuvio, Varese)
16. The Stolen Children (Milan, Bologna, Rome, Calabria, Sicily)
17. Conversation Piece (Rome)
18. The Scent of the Night (Rome)
19. Double Game (Turin)
20. Rice Girl (Novara)