How Japanese & Italian Producers Are Leveraging The New Japan-Italy Co-Production Agreement
The Japanese and Italian film industries are set to enter a new era of collaboration, after the Japan-Italy film co-production agreement officially came into effect on August 9.
At the Tokyo International Film Festival, Italy featured as the key country in focus, with numerous events organized to foster networking opportunities between Japanese and Italian film professionals and promote projects under development.
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Connecting Japanese and Italian film professionals
Roberto Stabile, Head of Special Projects, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture at Cinecittà, told Deadline that the priority now is to create many opportunities for meetings between Italian and Japanese film professionals so that projects can get off the ground.
“Politically speaking, it is very important to have a co-production agreement, but now in a practical way, we must create many occasions for meetings between Italian and Japanese producers and creatives,” said Stabile. “They must know each other, become friends and find the right story to shoot together.
“With the co-production agreement, when they produce and work together, they can use the benefits from each country and the movie will be able to obtain Japanese nationality in Japan, and Italian nationality in Italy. That’s very important, but the co-production agreement is only a tool. We need producers to use this tool,” added Stabile.
Similar co-production agreement with Korea under discussion
Stabile said that a similar co-production agreement is under discussion with South Korea. This year, his team brought a delegation and set up an Italian pavilion for the first time at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival.
During the Tokyo fest, a reception was held at the Italian Embassy to celebrate the signing of the agreement. Five Italian projects were selected to take part in the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market during TIFFCOM, on top of 15 other projects from other countries. Additionally, there was also a panel sharing further details and case studies related to the co-production agreement as well as a pitching session, with Stabile present alongside Italy’s Ambassador to Japan, Gianluigi Benedetti.
The festival also organized a retrospective on Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni and a showcase of Italian director Nanni Moretti’s films. Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of the Italian actor, also served as a jury member for the festival’s awards.
Stabile said that he first talked about the possibility for a Japan-Italy co-production agreement seven years ago in Rome with Ando Hiroyasu, who was then working as Japan’s Ambassador to Italy. Hiroyasu is now the chairman of the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Under the co-production agreement, which focuses on films “primarily intended for theatrical release,” key production staff must be Italian nationals or long-term residents, European Union nationals, Japan nationals or permanent residents. Financial contributions from each side of the co-production must range between 20 to 80 percent.
Third countries (beyond Italy and Japan) are allowed to join these co-productions, only if they have an existing co-production agreement with both or either country.
Italy currently has co-production agreements with 37 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Australia, among others. Japan has signed co-productions with two countries: China and Canada. With the co-production agreement, Japan can also access the Eurimages European Cinema Support Fund via collaborations with Italy.
First projects tapping into the agreement
Italian and Japanese film professionals have already seen a positive impact from the co-production agreement.
For Italian producer Parsifal Reparato, knowing that a Japan-Italy co-production agreement was in the works earlier this year, he went to Hong Kong’s Filmart in March specifically looking for Japanese titles and collaborators.
He ended up picking Children Of The River, written and directed by Japanese film director Lisa Takeba. Shozo Ichiyama (Spirit World, Ash Is The Purest White) has also signed on to co-produce. The film will shoot in summer 2025 in Shikoku, located in Japan’s southern region.
“It was not a coincidence,” Reparato told Deadline. “We were aware that the agreement between Italy and Japan was close to becoming a reality, so we started looking for a good Japanese project while at Filmart. We went around listening to a lot of pitches and checked out a lot of projects.
“With the treaty signed, it means that we have a lot of more possibilities to build a stronger financial plan. It means that we can support the movie with a minority co-production fund and also with tax credit, because we have the Italian nationality for the film. Before the agreement, this was not possible, like many co-productions with other countries where there is no treaty,” added Reparato.
Japanese producer Eiko Mizuno-Gray, from Tokyo-based Loaded Films Ltd (Plan 75, Ten Years Japan), said: “We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Although without the treaty, I will still do co-productions, having the treaty means that I can talk on the same page as other international producers that I am co-producing with.”
“It’s also a great opportunity for Japanese filmmakers and producers to collaborate with other countries through Italy as our main collaborator,” added Mizuno-Gray.
Besides Loaded Films, Mizuno-Gray also launched Kinofaction this year, an outfit that will focus on minority Japanese co-productions, taking a minority stake in feature film projects that have significant Japanese elements and/or talent involved.
Sabrina Baracetti has helped to connect Asian and European film professionals for nearly 30 years, as the co-founder and president of the Udine Far East Film Festival (FEFF). Located in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia of Italy, the festival specializes in Asian genre films and celebrated its 27th edition this year. Since the signing of the Japan-Italy agreement, many of Baracetti’s Italian peers have enlisted her help to connect them with the Japanese film industry.
“We are receiving many requests from Italian producers that want to be introduced to Japanese producers. Our Focus Asia market could become a key platform during the year to meet each other. It’s already like this, but this agreement makes Focus Asia an unmissable event.”
FEFF also runs industry-focused programs like Focus Asia and the Ties That Bind workshop, which provide a platform for Asian and European projects to receive development and distribution support, as well as encourage international networking.
Stabile added: “Asia is growing very fast and we would like to increase our co-operation in this part of the world. Currently, Italian producers are focusing on co-productions with Europe or South America, but they aren’t looking at this side of the world as much. We want them to turn their heads and see that this region is very important.”
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