The main feature of the 2009 event was the hectic pace: more than 6000 meetings in the 30 hours of the forum. An absolute marathon for almost 700 partecipants coming from approximately thirty countries (Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Holland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA) to take part in the IBF – International Book Forum 2009, the business to business area inside the Torino International Book Fair that is dedicated to publishing and audiovisual rights exchange and to developing new  publishing projects.

Among the publishing houses and literary agencies from Europe taking part were: Gallimard and Flammarion (France), C. Bertelsmann and Suhrkamp Verlag (Germany), Assirío & Alvim (Portugal), Norstedts Förlagsgrupp (Sweden), 451 Editores (Spain), Zed Books and Little Brown Book Group (Great Britain). The world of cinema was also well represented, with scouts and literary consultants from important production companies and talent agencies in America, like Fox, Creative Artists Agency, Marc Platt Productions, New Line Cinema, Smoke House; from France, groups like Grandeur Nature, from Germany Constantin Films among others, from Russia the Bazelevs and Central Partnership, from the UK Rosalind Ramsay Agency, Anne Louise Fischer Associates and The Bureau.

The three days also produced some truly unexpected events: as, for example, Giorgio Faletti’s decision to make a personal appearance to talk directly to the North American producers present about his latest book, Io sono Dio, published by Baldini Castoldi Dalai.  Great interest was expressed in a possible future movie adaptation of this soon to be released book. Faletti’s morning was completely occupied by meetings and he met  Anna Kokourina from Fox International, Tia Maggini from Marc Platt Productions, Nina Wolarski from Smoke House Entertainment (George Clooney’s production company), Richard Green from the Creative Artists Agency e Chris Goldberg from Twentieth Century Fox.

Details have leaked out about the first deals closed (many other contracts will be signed in the next few weeks but the negotiating parties prefer not to make the details public). The debut novel by Giorgio Vasta Il tempo materiale, in the running for the prestigious literary prize, Premio Strega, was acquired by UK publishers Faber & Faber, who will publish it in Great Britain and in the US. Other agreements were set up by Minimum Fax with foreign publishers like Gallimard in France and DVA in Germany, while negotiations between a Dutch publishing house and this Rome based house are entering an advanced stage. Newton Compton has sold the rights to La sindrome dello shopping by Mariafrancesca Venturo to publisher Bertrand Brasil. One of the most active publishers at the IBF was undoubtedly Dudaj from Albania, who bought the translation rights to many novels over the three days. Including the much sought after trilogy Millenium by Stieg Larsson, for which there was strong competition from four other publishers, and which they managed to obtain thanks to their negotiations with the Swedish group, Norstedts Förlagsgrupp, at the IBF tables. Their CEO Arlinda Hovi Dudaj also acquired the rights to Mi piaci da morire by Federica Bosco, published by Newton Compton, Il gioco delle verità by Sveva Casati Modigliani, and Non vi lascerò orfani by Daria Bignardi (Mondadori).

Foreign guests commented favourably on the IBF forum.  Richard Green from Creative Artists Agency: “I have heard many interesting projects that could be developed into good movies: two stories, in particular, a thriller and a fantasy, that have the potential to become major Hollywood productions like Harry Potter”. Claire Anouchian from Denoel: “An excellent  opportunity to set up new contacts and make good exchanges”. Anna Kokourina from Fox International: “I believe that the IBF provides us with a great opportunity to get to know not only Italian publishers but also those in the rest of Europe. I have made lots of contacts and seen many, many  interesting projects”.

Those taking part worked at a constant, frenetic pace during these three days in the area set up in the Lingotto Conference Centre, the heart of the b2b activities at the Fair, almost as if they were inspired by the spirit of the assembly line of the ex-Fiat factory that now houses the centre. Each meeting lasted half an hour, with the scraping of the pushed back chairs signalling the ritualistic move from one table to another, in search of a buyer for the rights to their books.

But in all this activity there was still time to indulge in the pleasures of the palate. Delicious traditional Piedmontese food was served by GoAsti, an initiative sponsored by a group of tourist operators, Consorzio Operatori Turistici Asti e Monferrato and by the Provincia di Asti; coffee breaks were catered by Caffè Vergnano coffee producers and refreshing mineral water provided by Acqua Sant’Anna. Foreign visitors much appreciated the interpreting support, at the conference sessions as well as at the meeting tables, provided by the students from Agenzia Formativa tuttoEuropa. Finally, a feast of flavour was introduced by the wine tastings of Asti Spumante D.O.C.G. wines, organized by the Consorzio dell’Asti Spumante, which the many foreign guests enjoyed immensely.

L’IBF – International Book Forum this year also launched a new initiative: the first Katalogando, a meeting point for book trade professionals taking part in the 22nd International Book Fair of Turin. The aim is to bring together publishers and booksellers. Katalogando attracted the participation of forty publishers and around thirty independent booksellers for a total of a thousand meetings. After a very satisfactory three days of sessions, It concluded with a conference entitled La presentazione del Katalogo. Come migliorare la comunicazione tra casa editrice e libreria (Presenting Katalogo. How to improve communications between publishers and booksellers), a round table discussion attended by representatives of publishers and booksellers, with the aim of  exploring new ideas on achieving effective communication along the book production chain.

IBF is an initiative of the International Book Fair of Turin, and is  created by Biella Intraprendere backed by the organizational and financial support of the National Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) and funding from the Regione Piemonte – Department of Trade and Fairs in accordance with agreements established between the Regione Piemonte and ICE, in line with the programme set out by the Italian Ministry for Economic Development.

Next year’s IBF – International Book Forum will be held from Thursday 6 to Saturday 8 May 2010 at the Centro Congressi Lingotto in Turin.