MIA’s Sony Pictures Television Award Names First Winner As Italian Event Comes To A Close

The first winner of MIA Market‘s Sony Pictures Television Award has been named, as the Rome event winds down this evening in Europe.

The prize, which honors the Best Drama Project from the MIA Drama Coproduction Market & Pitching Forum, has gone to Irish series The Roaring Banshees, produced by Paul Donovan from Deadpan Pictures and written by John Morton and Peter McGann.

Sony Pictures Television Studios President Katherine Pope awarded the prize at a ceremony in Rome this evening after it was selected by jury from the U.S. studio.

Sony said the project, which is a female-led gangster story set in Prohibition-era Chicago, “represents the kind of bold and innovative storytelling that makes for exceptional television,” adding, “Rooted in an often-overlooked chapter of history and driven by compelling female leads, The Roaring Banshees offers a perspective we don’t see nearly enough, which is why the jury has chosen it as the winner of the Sony Pictures Television drama award.”

Other gongs handed out this evening include the MIA Development Awards, which were awarded to four projects from across the Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum. They’ll each receive a cash prize to support development.

In drama, the award went to Aïnta!, which is produced by Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos from Faliro House Productions and written by Kevin Zans Ansong and Stavros Pamballis. It follows a Ghanaian-Greek rapper on a journey of self-discovery after meeting a blues producer. 

Palestinian series Dyouf (Guests) was given a special mention. From the DFI Series Lab and produced by May Jabareen from Philistine Films, it follows Shadi as he returns to his Bedouin village in Palestine to help his mother manage a guesthouse. Saleh Saadi is the writer.

In animation, the winner was The Golden Butterfly (Zlatnata Peperutka), a Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, North Macedonia and Spain co-pro about a group of friends on a dazzling adventure in the Colombian rainforest.

Best doc was Edition 96 from Lebanon, produced by OOBconcept and directed by Ahmad Naboulsi. It spotlight stories of courage and the struggle for civil rights.

The top film on show was I Have to Fuck Before the World Ends, directed by Andrea Benjamin Manenti and produced by Stefano Centini from Volos Film) and Carlo Hinterman from Citrullo International. The Italian-Filipino co-production sees director Andrea Benjamin Manenti draw on his family history to explore intimacy, memory, and resilience between two worlds

Selected other awards include the Paramount New Stories Award, presented this year to a factual entertainment project. It to POV-Point of view, produced by Tapeless Film and created by Luca Murphy put of Italy. The Women in Film and Television Italia – WIFTMI Award was awarded to the animated TV series Roc and Lola (Roc e Lola), directed by Andrea Giro and produced by Primal Shape.

MIA comes to a close

The eleventh annual MIA Market event, which is held at the Cinema Barberini, drew to a close this evening. Attendees were in line with the 2024 event, coming in at 2,800 participants from 64 countries.

This year 500 projects were submitted for the Co-Production and Pitching Forum, with 62 presented and another 44 selected for five showcases.

“The Italian audiovisual industry showcased at MIA has once again demonstrated its ability to compete globally with vision, talent and economic sustainability,” said Chiara Sbarigia, President of co-organizer APA. “These values remain at the heart of its qualitative growth.

“For us, the independent producer is the cornerstone of the entire ecosystem. To keep pace, and indeed to anticipate the trends of a market undergoing constant editorial, technological and consumption transformations, our association is already working on the next edition of MIA, to complement established initiatives with new elements aligned with the international landscape.”

Gaia Tridente, the Director of MIA, added: “This edition of MIA reflects our international nature: a mosaic of countries and cultures spanning Europe, North and Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific participated in the market. We are living through a period of profound transformation: new financial balances, audience fragmentation, the redefinition of distribution windows and technological advancement. In this complex economic and geopolitical context, MIA has chosen not to retreat, but to push forward.”