The kick-off meeting of the project CIRCE - Common Initiatives to pRomote CinEma across Italy-Albania-Montenegro, co-funded for approximately 830.000 EUR by the Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro Programme, was held on 11 and 12 October in Bari (IT). The press conference was attended by Maurizio Sciarra (President of Apulia Film Commission Foundation), Ilir Butka (President of Albanian National Centre of Cinematography) and Sehad Cekic (President of Film Centre of Montenegro).
CIRCE project, financed under Priority Axis 2 (Smart Management of Natural and Cultural Heritage for the exploitation of cross border sustainable tourism and territorial attractiveness), Specific Objective 2.2 (Increase the cooperation of the key actors of the area for the delivery of innovative cultural and creative products) of the Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro Programme, aims to re-launch the production system of Albania, Montenegro, Puglia and Molise, investing in cultural and creative industries as key strategic resources to support the economic growth of the involved areas. The main focus is improving the conditions for cultural and creative industries of the audio-visual sector in order to give value to the cultural heritage through cross-border initiatives, establishing an important connection among participating regions and key actors of new creative productions.
CIRCE will implement several activities such as a joint production of a nine-episodes web series, the transfer of good practices (tax credit), the creation of a network among the film festivals of the area, investments to promote distribution in Albania and Montenegro, and updating activities for operators of the audio-visual sector.
Apulia Film Commission Foundation is the lead beneficiary of this project in cooperation with one Albanian partner, the Albanian National Centre of Cinematography, one Montenegrin partner, the Film Centre of Montenegro and one Italian partner, the Molise Region. Associated partners are: Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, Ministry of Culture Republic of Albania and Ministry of Heritage and Culture and Tourism (MIBACT).