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Sawyer and Raye Levine Spielberg are set to star in the indie dark comedy thriller, Pink Flags, written and directed by Misha Calvert.

The real-life married couple will play opposite each other as a feisty figure skater named Liberty (Raye), who turns the tables on an inept stalker (Sawyer) while preparing for a high-stakes competition. Production started this month in New York City.

The short film calls upon the female gaze to help audiences connect to the emotional and psychological experience of stalking and assault, while using dark humor and a captivating aesthetic in the style of classic 1970s paranoia cinema.

“I think it’s so interesting how [Pink Flags] plays with the line between spectator and voyeur,” Levine Spielberg said about the themes of the script. “The main character, this fiercely-independent free bird, finds it more comforting to gaslight herself than pronounce herself a victim.”

The cast is rounded out by...

It’s been eight years since Italy’s key film and TV market Mia kicked off in Rome and each year its popular co-production market and pitching forum seems to go from strength to strength.

This year the strand, which is already established in drama, documentary and feature film sections, has spread its tentacles to include animation and will see local producers looking for high-profile financial partners and co-production deals get the opportunity to showcase their projects before an audience of industry professionals and top international players from global studios, Ott platforms, broadcasters, production and distribution companies as well as agents and financiers.

This year, Deadline can reveal that there are already some standout pitches across all segments that are sure to drum up interest starting with Crimson Crown, the first series exec produced by Italian master of horror Dario Argento. Being pitched in the Mia drama section, Argento will...

Funded by Turismo de Portugal, the country’s shoot cash rebate aims to increase Portugal’s international visibility. Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques stresses that tourism is a key driver of sustainable growth, job creation and foreign investment, as well as promoting Portuguese and European cultural values: “That’s why we have created one of the most competitive film production incentive systems in Europe, especially oriented to those projects that can bring economic social, and environment value and positive impact to the world.”

Portugal boasts the highest number of sunny days in Europe and greener landscapes than much of Southern Europe. Crews are skilled, multi-lingual and offer highly competitive rates.

The major diversity of natural and cultural heritage within a relatively small country means that shoots can access a wide variety of locales within relatively short distances.

The Portugal Film Commission (Pfc) is complemented by 12 film commissions and offices,...

Aftab is a bright, feisty, British-Indian teen living under her parents’ watchful eye amid the hedonism and decay of Thatcher’s London. When her strict and traditional parents decide to marry her off to the first available Indian suitor, Aftab rebels, taking a job at a sex shop and setting off to write her own destiny.

“Alex in Wonderland” is a darkly comedic coming-of-age drama about freedom and rebellion. The six-part TV series created and written by Mandi Riggi, and produced by Kevin Comer of Psychonaut Films, will take part in the drama series pitching competition this week at the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (Mia) in Rome.

Riggi was raised in the U.K. after her parents left Iran in the wake of the 1979 revolution, and for “Wonderland,” she partly drew on her own experiences as an immigrant child in ‘80s London. “If you were an immigrant, it was automatically assumed that you were uneducated,...

When the matriarch of a British-Iranian family goes missing in London, her loved ones find themselves on an offbeat spiritual journey to track her down, setting their old world traditions on a collision course with their new world surroundings.

Inspired by her own Iranian roots, “Mercy” is the feature debut of British-Iranian director Mandi Riggi. Andrew Eaton (“The Crown”) will executive produce, with a cast that includes F. Murray Abraham, Hiam Abbass, Emun Elliott, Sarah Snook and Yasmin Paige. The film was selected for Mia’s co-production market and pitching forum.

“Mercy” draws on Riggi’s upbringing in the U.K., where she lived until the age of 14, after her parents left Iran in the wake of the 1979 revolution. Though they arrived “with hope in their eyes” and plans for a better life, the director said the bittersweet decision weighed on them long afterward.

“These are immigrants who can never...

20 feature films, 17 documentaries and 20 TV dramas set for pitching forum.

A slate of 20 feature films, 17 documentaries and 20 TV dramas have been selected for the pitching session at the fourth edition of the Mia Market in Rome (October 17-21).

Feature Film

This year’s feature film projects, which come from 16 different countries, were selected by Jason Ishikawa (international sales at Cinetic Media), Anne Lai (cirector of creative producing and artist support for the feature film program at the Sundance Institute) and Sophie Mas (producer at Rt Features). Half the projects are directed by women.

Among these are productions that passed through the Sundance Screenwriting lab,...