{"id":27448,"date":"2026-06-25T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/27448\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:00:12","slug":"star-trek-in-spotlight-at-italian-global-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/27448\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Star Trek’ in Spotlight at Italian Global Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRunning July 3\u201311 along the Adriatic coast, the Italian Global Series Festival<\/a> returns for its sophomore edition with a leaner lineup and sharper focus. As international attendees hit up Rimini and Riccione, the showcase once again transforms the Riviera Romagnola into a beachfront crossroads for the television industry.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe wanted to open this festival to the world,\u201d says IGS<\/a> artistic director Marco Spagnoli<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about promoting Italian creation, but also the region, the culture and the spirit of collaboration. We need people to meet. Last year, you could see an American actor, a Spanish actor and an Italian director all together. Television rarely creates those opportunities.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tBuilding on his 2025 inaugural edition \u2014 either a reboot or a spinoff of the RomaFictionFest, which held its finale in 2016 \u2014 Spagnoli has streamlined the selection to give attendees more breathing room. The international competition now features 21 series from 15 countries, down from 32 titles last year. He describes the move as a \u201crationalization\u201d that brings IGS more in line with other major international festivals. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Emergency 53\u2019 <\/p>\n

\n\tIGS takes a flexible approach to premieres. The U.K.-Spanish detective drama \u201cBenidorm Is Murder\u201d and Brazilian medical thriller \u201cEmergency 53\u201d will make their world debuts at the festival, though exclusivity is not a requirement for competition. International premieres include the spy thriller \u201cSecret Service,\u201d directed by James Marsh and starring Gemma Arterton; Korean thriller \u201cSpeaking Dead\u201d from Lee Jung-hyo; and historical epic \u201cRaza Brava,\u201d which follows Santiago\u2019s violent soccer ultras during Augusto Pinochet\u2019s dictatorship in Chile.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAt this point, I wouldn\u2019t insist on world premieres,\u201d Spagnoli says. \u201cThere are too many interesting shows from around the world that deserve to be seen. What matters is that the festival functions as a platform where international series can reach audiences, journalists and industry professionals alike.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the talent heading to the Adriatic coast, U.S. performers CCH Pounder and Judith Light will support the social horror series \u201cThe Terror: Devil in Silver,\u201d while France\u2019s Virginie Ledoyen and Camille Razat accompany the Stendhal adaptation \u201cLe Rouge et le Noir.\u201d Carlton Cuse, Titus Welliver, Lisa Mulcahy and Richard Gadd will all be on-site to receive the festival\u2019s Maximo Excellence Award.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Raza Brava\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tThe festival\u2019s three jury presidents each represent a different strand of its identity. Overseeing the comedy competition, French actor Bruno Gouery (\u201cEmily in Paris,\u201d \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d) brings international visibility and multilingual appeal. \u201cBruno\u2019s mother is Italian, and he speaks the language perfectly,\u201d says Spagnoli. \u201cHe could start working here tomorrow, and we want to encourage that kind of crossover.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tDrama jury president Marti Noxon will also be honored for her influence on contemporary television. \u201cWhat Marti did on \u2018Buffy the Vampire Slayer\u2019 changed the very concept of vampires, and those vampires have been with us ever since,\u201d says Spagnoli. \u201cA festival like this needs to acknowledge that continuity \u2014 to show which works have mattered and who has shaped the landscape.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, few creators have had a broader cultural impact than limited-series jury president Nicholas Meyer<\/a>. After Meyer\u2019s \u201cThe Seven-Per-Cent Solution\u201d helping modernize Sherlock Holmes in ways that still resonate across every subsequent adaptation, the director reframed nuclear proliferation with his 1983 television film \u201cThe Day After\u201d \u2014 \u201cperhaps the only film that really changed the course of history,\u201d as Spagnoli puts it. <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, Meyer also took Kirk and Spock to new frontiers \u2013 making \u201cThe Wrath of Khan\u201d director one of the key auteurs of the wider \u201cStar Trek<\/a>\u201d franchise and a fitting centerpiece for a festival celebrating the franchise\u2019s 60th anniversary. The program includes a conversation between Meyer and producer David W. Zucker, as well as a screening of the \u201cStrange New Worlds\u201d Season 4 premiere, with stars Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Celia Rose Gooding and \u201cVoyager\u201d favorite Jeri Ryan in attendance. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Little House on the Prairie\u2019 <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[Through her character Seven of Nine,] Jeri Ryan has explored questions about machines, artificial intelligence and what it means to be human \u2014 all very modern concerns\u201d says Spagnoli. \u201c \u2018Star Trek\u2019 was born of the Vietnam era, but so many of its themes still resonate, especially that idea of peace, that optimistic vision of a future driven by cooperation. That\u2019s not limited to 1966.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpagnoli is equally enthusiastic about Netflix\u2019s upcoming \u201cLittle House on the Prairie\u201d reboot, which will screen as a special preview event. By embracing new iterations of familiar IP \u2014 and by leaning into his festival\u2019s international cross-roads ambitions \u2014 Spagnoli hopes to send a message to the European television industry.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIntellectual property can and should live on, and it must be renewed,\u201d he says. \u201cWe Europeans should learn from that. There are so many Italian and European series that shaped my generation and could be just as powerful for modern audiences.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn Italy, we\u2019re born with the past,\u201d he adds, connecting his interest in reboots to something deeper than brand recognition. \u201cThese series meant something to millions of people. We need to keep looking backward to understand the present and imagine the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Star Trek: Strange New Worlds<\/a>\u2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Running July 3\u201311 along the Adriatic coast, the Italian Global Series Festival returns for its sophomore edition with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18956,16207,5,13849,13856,16208,18957],"class_list":["post-27448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-igs","tag-italian-global-series-festival","tag-italy","tag-marco-spagnoli","tag-nicholas-meyer","tag-star-trek","tag-star-trek-strange-new-worlds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}