EXCLUSIVE: Italy’s MIA Market just unveiled a group of international heavy hitters for its upcoming edition in Rome.
Conclave director Edward Berger, Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, Canal+ Deputy CEO Anna Marsh and Jane Tranter, exec producer of Industry and Succession, will all feature in fireside chats at MIA 2026.
The speaker announcment came alongside a series of additions for MIA, which is promoted by ANICA (the Italian Association of Film, Audiovisual and Digital Industries) and by APA (Italian Audiovisual Producers Association) under the direction of Gaia Tridente.
The event will continue to be based at the Palazzo Barberini cinema complex. New for this year is a European Investment Hub, a program dedicated to financial instruments, investment and European policy around the audiovisual industry. As part of the initiative, ANICA will present a study on the evolution of film consumption, while APA will present its annual industry report.
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Raj Singh, co-founder and CEO of Media Capital Technologies, which invests in international media and finances entertainment, will be among the guests at the European Investment Hub.
This is all part of an ANICA and APA plan to develop the Via Veneto and Piazza Barberini into “an urban district dedicated to the international film and audiovisual industry.”
The Hotel Westin Excelsior, which sits opposite to the Palazzo, will officially become part of MIA, housing its film and drama activities in conference and meeting rooms. The InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace, also located on Via Veneto, will become the documentary hub. Animation series will be housed at the Hotel Sina Bernini Bristol, with new programs titled Animation Next and Gap Financing.
The Sina Bernini Bristol will also offer “certain closed-door activities” and host meetings for MIA’s international partners, and the European Investment Hub’s advisory, matchmaking and one-to-one meetings. The Grand Hotel Palace will also host closed-door business meetings, training programmes, private pitching sessions and discussions between international partners and professionals.
New satellite venues will include Spaces Via Veneto, which will host activities dedicated to talent development, intellectual property and professional training, including Unbox activities, an emerging filmmakers project produced in partnership with Alice nella Città. Elsewhere, the W Rome will offer experiential networking at a space named Casa MIA
MIA 2026 is being held in Rome on October 19-23, and is organized with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ICE – Agency for the Promotion Abroad and Internationalisation of Italian Companies. It also receives contributions from Creative Europe MEDIA and the Ministry of Culture, and support from the Rome Lazio Film Commission Foundation and the Lazio Region.
This year the event is being held in collaboration with the Department for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion of Roma Capitale, and with backing from Eurimages, the Council of Europe fund.
