Italian Cinema Channel to Launch in the U.S.

A brand new channel is set to launch via Amazon in December and will feature Italian movies of yesterday and today. Movie Italy will make available on demand the monumental classics that have stood the test of time as well as contemporary films, demonstrating the evolution of Italian cinema.

The project is being spearheaded by Italian distribution company Minerva Pictures. I spoke with one of the project's organizers, Gianluca Curti, for the full story.

How was this project born?
From the awareness of the importance of Italian cinema and Italian culture in the history of the United States, we have therefore created a team to bring all our cinema to the United States- the home of cinema and Hollywood. We want to do a well-organized service for all Americans who love Italy and Italian culture, who love the Renaissance and our history, which is well told by the cinema, and, of course, to all Italians who live and work in the USA.

How will it work?
It will be a paid channel in SVOD mode (Subscription video on demand) and will be present in the most important OTTs.

** Pleases note that OTT stands for “Over-The-Top”, a term used for the delivery of film and TV content via the internet, without requiring users to subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite pay-TV service like Comcast or Time Warner Cable.

When will you start in America?
By December 2019, it will be operational

Can you tell me some of the titles that will be available?
At the launch, there will be 200 titles out of the 1800 that we currently have. Included will be all the directors and actors who have contributed to the history of Italian cinema- classic and popular. Those artists will include Marcello Mastroianni, Alberto Sordi, Luchino Visconti, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, Sofia Loren, Totò, Roberto Benigni, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alberto Lattuada, Valerio Mastandrea, Ferzan Ozpetek, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Vittorio de Sica. Then once the launch is completed, we will continue to add and acquire more titles.

We will keep you updated on the exact launch date. In the meantime, the official unveiling of the project will take place tomorrow morning (August 31) at the 76th Venice Film Festival in the Italian Pavilion (Sala Tropicana). Click here for details.

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