Production runs. Tax credit applications for cinematographic works quadrupled between 2019 and 2021, going from 123 (74 “fictional works”, one animation and 48 documentaries) to 483 (301 works of fiction, 167 documentaries and 15 animation products ). On the other hand, in Italy, the cinema is facing a box office (169 million receipts, with 24 million admissions in the cinema as of August 22) that is better than in the last two years killed by the pandemic, but with numbers halved compared to the pre-Covid years (in 2019 the receipts were 355.6 million).
The sector thus looks to the Venice International Film Festival, now in its 79th edition and starting on August 31, as a watershed moment. We cling to positive signs. Starting from the growth at the box office: + 11% in receipts and + 5% in admissions compared to 2020, with numbers quadrupled compared to 2021 which, however, due to the difficulties of the first part of the year does not apply. And after the boost guaranteed by “Top Gun: Maverick” with Tom Cruise, “Minions 2” arrived on the big screen on Thursday 18, which in just over a week and a handful of previews grossed almost 8 million. The day before yesterday, “Bullet Train” (the tape action movie with Brad Pitt) and “Crimes of the future” by David Cronenberg followed.
«The great turning point in understanding the dynamics of the relationship between audience and cinema – explains Benedetto Habib, president of the Anica Producers Union – will be in September. At the moment, the lack of product to bring people back to the room has also been taken for granted. There are now interesting signs of public return. Of course: in a non-homogeneous way, driven by great international products ».
This consideration recalls one of the great structural problems of Italian cinema: excess production, perhaps with a budget and quality that is not particularly competitive. There is also this behind the possible downside of a tax credit which represented the real framework that allowed the sector to hold up. Many requests, but all valid?
Meanwhile, the appropriations for the tax credit on film investments have risen from 116 million in 2019 to 140 in 2020 and 170 in 2021, only to be reduced to 125 million in 2022. The same goes for the amount actually used in F24: 87 , 3 million three years ago, 123.3 million two years ago and 153 million last year. It remains to be seen how 2022 will close.