CANNES – Sandokan, Squid Game, I Cesaroni are the protagonists of the Italian Global Series Festival, a reboot of RomeFictionFest and event dedicated to the best of Italian and international series, scheduled from 21 to 28 June in Riccione and Rimini. The most highly anticipated events, announced at the Italian Pavilion in Cannes, include the Italian preview of the two opening episodes of Lena Dunham’s new series Too Much (available from 10 July on Netflix) and a special screening of the first episode of Season 3 of Squid Game.
Prime Video will screen episodes from Season 2 of Pesci piccoli, Un’agenzia. Molti idee. Poco budget, in the presence of Ciro Priello and Fabio Balsamo of The Jackal. Another event eagerly awaited by the general public is the return of I Cesaroni, a series produced by Publispei and distributed by Mediaset. The Showcase at the Palariccione will include a presentation of Sandokan, produced by Lux Vide and in collaboration with Rai Fiction.
A highly anticipated festival, as highlighted by the Undersecretary of Culture Lucia Borgonzoni: “The quantity of titles applying for this first edition of the Italian Global Series Festival and their wide geographical provenance – with productions from all continents – confirm the need for an Italian festival entirely dedicated to series. This will be a festival open to the public, because it is precisely in shared enjoyment that cultural products acquire an even deeper meaning. Today, series are one of the most powerful languages ??of contemporaneity and it is essential that Italy plays a leading role on this front too, enhancing our talents, our stories, and opening up to the world”.
The Festival - conceived and organized by APA, the Association of Audiovisual Producers, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Cinecittà, the Municipalities of Riccione and Rimini, SIAE and AGIS - is entirely free and accessible to the public at Riccione (PalaRiccione, Multiplex CinePalace, Piazzale Roma, Piazzale Ceccarini) and Rimini (Cinema Fulgor, Teatro Galli, Corte degli Agostiniani) in the last week of June 2025.
"In recent years we have witnessed a profound transformation of the audiovisual industry, with television series taking an increasingly central role, driven by the growth of streaming platforms and the diversification of narrative languages,” commented Chiara Sbarigia, President of APA, creator and organizer of the Italian Global Series Festival. "Our mission is to build bridges between creativity, production, institutions and the market. The elevated number of titles received and the very high quality of the works selected for inclusion at the Italian Global Series Festival shows that we are contributing to building a lively, intelligent and competitive market”.
At the conference, Artistic Director Marco Spagnoli announced the candidates for the three sections of the international competition: Drama, Comedy, Limited Series, with Premi Maximo for Best Title, Best Leading Actor and Actress, Best Creator and/or Director. Nominations for the Premio Maximo for Italian series broadcast on television and distributed on platforms between 31 May 2024 - 30 April 2025 were also announced. At the Galli Theatre in Rimini and during the closing night of the IGSF in Riccione, Excellence Awards will be assigned to: the Italians Carlo Verdone and Elena Sofia Ricci; composer and multiple Oscar winner Giorgio Moroder; Evangeline Lilly, leading actor in series such as Lost; Adjoa Andoh, from Bridgerton; Jacqueline Fernandez and Iria Del Río for the series ‘Dieci Capodanni’, which has become cult viewing in Italy on Raiplay.
“Sharing series on the big screen has a very important cultural and social dimension, which is greatly appealing to fans, and especially to those who love this format and the possibilities offered by stories”, noted Artistic Director Marco Spagnoli. “Our mission is to enhance the Italian system in a context of European and global collaboration: we are in contact with all the main streamers and broadcasters in the world. We have received titles from 34 countries across the five continents. Our intention is to make Riccione and Rimini a leading international showcase because we believe that a festival is first and foremost an event that sparks investments, collaborations and new projects between Art, Business and Entertainment”.
Three juries will assign the prizes of the international competition: the Drama Jury, chaired by the director and screenwriter Cristina Comencini, with Francesco Centorame, Clive Standen, Debi Mazar, Margherita Mazzucco; the Comedy Jury, chaired by director and screenwriter Paolo Genovese, with Iris Peynado, Gorka Otxoa, Antonio e Marco Manetti, Andrea Guerra, Constance Jamet ; and the Limited Series Jury, chaired by director Bille August, with Alan Gasmer, Deborah Davis, Riccardo Scamarcio, Barbara Abel.
The Festival will host a series of Conversations: between director Marco Bellocchio and Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival; actor - director Michele Placido and Giulio Base, director of the Torino Film Festival; film critic and writer Piera Detassis and actress and director Valeria Golino; and critic Laura Delli Colli and actress Luisa Ranieri.
Two masterclasses are scheduled: with Emmy award winning screenwriter, director and producer Mark Gatiss, known for ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Sherlock’ on Television Screenwriting; and with one of the most emblematic figures in the world production scene, Steven Moffat, creator and screenwriter of ‘Douglas is Cancelled’, and his wife, producer Sue Vertue.
The “Straordinarie” section, with the contribution of Carlo Chatrian, Director of the Cinema Museum of Turin, is a journey into series about forgotten and underestimated women such as Miss Austen, Maria - The Unknown Callas, Marie Antoinette. The series Vikings will be presented, in the presence of actress Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) as will The Art of Joy, directed by Valeria Golino, who will also be present at the festival.