Belgian TV series “The Inheritance,” about the death of a wealthy widow that ignites a battle over her estate, scored the Sony Pictures Television Award for best drama project at Rome’s MIA Market as its 12th edition wrapped Friday.
The show, which is being produced by Kristoffel Mertens and Kato Maes for Belgian shingle Panenka, was praised by the jury — including Sony Pictures’ head of drama development Andrew Plotkin — for “making a lasting impression through its complex, charismatic female protagonist in a traditionally male-dominated setting.”
The jury added: “The idea of emotionally driven characters inhabiting an original world, combined with the universally relatable theme of family inheritance, gives the series an authentic and distinctive resonance that sets it apart in the television landscape.”
MIA Development Awards were also handed out to several projects selected across the four categories of the co-production market and pitching forum, with each receiving cash prizes to support their development.
The development award for outstanding animation series project went to “Sophie, if You Are There Give Us a Sign!,” directed by Italy’s Dario Piana, an Italy-Belgium-Spain co-production between Brand-Cross, 20 Pictures to Midnight and Digitoonz Entertainment. The series focuses on a 13-year-old named Sophie, who mourns her grandfather Thomas every day in a Milan cemetery. Her reality is shattered when two mischievous ghost children from the “World Below” perform a forbidden so-called “Vivitic Séance,” accidentally pulling Sophie into this other realm.
The prize for outstanding animated film project went to “All the Softness in the World,” about a Turkish family in 1950s Istanbul that lives in the shadow of an ancient curse, directed by Ayce Kartal and produced by France’s Les Valseurs.
The award for outstanding documentary project went to “Loving Ika,” which looks at the ethics behind the relationship between human beings and artificial intelligence, directed by Emilio Di Stefano and Fabian Sigurd and produced by Sweden’sa Daniéla Frykstrand and Gunilla Film AB.
A special mention went to “Bleaching Nemo,” an investigation into the environmental balances of our oceans. This U.S.-U.K. co-production is directed by Jason Brooks and produced by Pierangelo Pirak for Pomona Pictures.
The prize for outstanding drama project went to Danish series “Day Traitors,” about an intelligence agent named Amir “who betrays his country to protect his family, only to destroy it,” as the synopsis puts it. The show is being produced by Nordisk Film Production’s Deborah Bayer Marlow and Michael Bille Frandsen and written by Molly Stensgaard, Bo Hr. Hansen and Milad Alami.
Additional awards handed out at Friday’s closing ceremony comprised GEDI Visual Award, presented to one of the titles selected for MIA’s Italians Doc It Better showcase that went to “The Decoy Artist – The Incredible Story of Mario Moselli and Saddam Hussein’s Phantom Army,” directed by Gigi Roccati and produced by Verdiana.
The Screen International Award was given to the feature film “Off-Season,” set in a Costa Brava campsite outside the tourist season, directed by Marta Font and produced by Mireia Graell Vivancos of Spain’s Ringo Media. The new Mnemonica Award went to Irish thriller “Diatribe” by Shaun O’Connor, produced by Maureen O’Connell. Finally, the Women in Film and Television Italia – WIFTMI Award, recognizing the project with the greatest potential in addressing gender inequality and promoting inclusion, was awarded to “Animal Instinct,” the debut feature from Vittoria Rizzardi Peñalosa, about a 16-year-old who kidnaps the father who abandoned her, produced by Cinefonie.
The award ceremony capped a busy week in the Eternal City, where more than 100 projects from 43 countries were presented during MIA’s Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum as well as additional showcases for animation, documentaries, TV formats and series.
The new-format market was attended by 2,800 professionals from 64 countries, a number on a par with last year. They held meetings and flocked into panels across seven venues that — in a major logistical innovation — this year transformed Rome’s historic Via Veneto, of “La Dolce Vita” fame, and the adjacent Piazza Barberini into an organic hub dedicated to the international film and TV industry.
“We close this edition of MIA knowing that we have taken an important step in the market’s evolution,” said MIA market chief Gaia Tridente in a statement. “In an audiovisual industry undergoing profound transformations that are redefining the models for content development, production, financing and distribution, we wanted to deliver a stronger, more ambitious and renewed edition, capable not only of keeping pace with these changes, but also of helping to interpret their dynamics and open up new perspectives.”