These professionals came from more than 30 countries (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and the USA) and included literary agents, rights managers, producers and publishing scouts for cinema, television and multimedia productions. For the three days of the Forum (from Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 May) they occupied the 200 tables set up in the Lingotto Conference Centre, the hub of the b2b operations at the Torino International Book Fair, taking part in a total of 7500 meetings (1500 more than in 2009).

These three days saw many deals struck: Arlina Dudaj, head of Dudaj Publishing (Albania), bought the publishing rights for the translation of several books, as for example, Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue by Alessandro D'Avenia from Mondadori, and Che la festa cominci by Niccolò Ammaniti from Kylee Doust agency (Dudaj had already bought the rights to his previous three books at the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs).

Other international players negotiating publishing rights included United Agents and Profile Books from the UK; Buchet-Chastel from France; Maria B. Campbell Associates, Penguin, Three Percent, Harper Collins and Broadway Books (RH Group) from the USA; McArthur & Company from Canada; and Editorial CosacNaify from Brazil.

The IBF 2010 featured a special focus on India, the guest country of the Book Fair, with publishing houses Abhinav Publications, Har-Anand Publications, Diamond Pocket Books, PHI Learning, Pitambar Publishing Company, Planet Multimedia Publisher, Pustak Mahal, Shishu Sahitya Samsad, Star Publications, Sterling Publisher, Laxmi Publications, Tushar Publications and  Bollywood video giant UTV, whose first visit to the IBF resulted in the discovery of some very interesting projects that they intend to work on in the future.

On the movie front business was brisk among literary scouts and consultants from major US production houses and talent agencies, including Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fox International, Metro Goldwyn Mayer/United Artists and International Creative Management (the agency that represents stars like Al Pacino, Samuel L. Jackson and Woody Allen). From Britain, we saw Warp Films, among many others; from Sweden Fundament Film; from Germany Integral Film; and from Russia United Film Company. The dynamism of the current Italian cinema scene was amply demonstrated by the participation of Italian production houses: Wildside, a cine-TV production company formed by Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani, Saverio Costanzo, Fausto Brizzi and Marco Martani; Offside, now in production with films "La solitudine dei numeri primi", based on the novel of the same name which was published by Mondadori, and  "Mia sorella è una foca monaca", adapted from the book published by Fazi; Fox Italia; Cattleya; Fandango; Minimum Fax Media; Colorado Film. Italians were also prominent in the discussion and debate sessions reserved for publishing/film professionals: Italian Publishers in the USA - approach to the US market and potential openings for Italian publishing houses, a presentation by ICE (National Institute for Foreign Trade) and  AIE (Italian Publishers’ Association); Film on the book: Unsolicited advice to publishers from a writer/director, contributed by director Marco Ponti. As in past years, accredited participants had free access to the IBF Lounge with its feast of fine Piedmontese food and wine. Every day (thanks to the generous support of the Regione Piemonte regional government) IFSE - Italian Food Style Education, offered Forum members a wide range of superb, haute cuisine dishes, showcasing the excellent produce from all the provinces of the Regione Piemonte. Once again this initiative was made possible by the solid support of regional promoters GoAsti, Consorzio Operatori Turistici Asti e Monferrato and Consorzio dell'Asti Spumante.

Next year’s IBF – International Book Forum will be held from Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 May 2011.

The International Book Forum is an initiative of the Torino International Book Fair, and has been  created by Biella Intraprendere, backed by the organizational and financial support of the National Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE), with funding from the Regione Piemonte government and from the Ministry of Economic Development, in the context of agreements established between the Ministry, the Region and ICE.