Collettivo Chiaroscuro, which in recent years has supported Milano Film Network as a partner, is delighted to see four works developed or supported through MFN’s industry programmes at the Venice International Film Festival. Two titles have been selected by the Giornate degli Autori – Notti veneziane. Anatomia di un ritratto by Mattia Colombo and Francesco Clerici, winner of the BPER Prize at Atelier MFN 2025, had been presented as a work-in-progress cut at the Milano Industry Days last November. La leggenda del deserto by Elisabetta Giannini is a documentary developed during the 2024 edition of In Progress MFN.
Two other films have made it to the 41st Venice International Critics’ Week. Prima della guerra, Tommaso Usberti’s directorial debut and the only Italian title in the 2026 SIC International Competition, took part in Atelier MFN 2025, where it received the Luce Cinecittà Prize and the Mnemonica Archive Prize. Granchità by Anaïs Landriscina and Chiara Toffoletto was selected for the competitive SIC@SIC Short Italian Cinema section. The short film was developed as part of In Progress MFN 2024 and won the AAMOD Prize.
These four achievements confirm Milano Film Network’s ability to provide practical support for film projects throughout the journey from development to post-production and, ultimately, to their encounter with audiences and major international festivals. It is a commitment to promoting new Italian cinema that Chiaroscuro has shared and supported in recent years.
Milano Film Network also returned to Venice to bring the eleventh edition of In Progress MFN to a close. Directed by Alice Arecco and Luca Mosso, the workshop is dedicated to developing projects that explore innovative approaches to cinematic language, content and production methods.
On Sunday 6 and Monday 7 September, at Sala Laguna, the fourteen projects selected for the 2026 edition were presented as part of the 12th Milano Industry Days – MID by MFN #1, organised in collaboration with Giornate degli Autori and Isola Edipo. Following the presentations and one-to-one meetings with industry professionals, the jury, comprising mentors Gianluca De Serio, Martina Parenti and Alessandro Rossetto together with four international professionals, will award the BPER Prize, a €5,000 development grant, along with the other awards provided by the partners.
Among this year’s new initiatives is the ‘Libera la mente e il resto viene da sé’ award, established by Citrullo International and EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani to support the most daring and unconventional project. Collaborations with AAMOD, lawyer Sabrina Peron and Meditalents have also been renewed.
The Venice programme will continue on Tuesday 8 September with a lecture by Marinella Banfi focusing on how to identify a project’s international potential from the development stage onwards. The Milano Industry Days will also provide an opportunity to present the autumn calendar of festivals within the network and to launch the call for Atelier MFN 2026, aimed at Italian feature films in post-production.
Andrea Benjamin Manenti CCS and Eleonora Contessi CCS represented the Collettivo by attending the event..
