LOS ANGELES / BUCHAREST / ROME — The long-anticipated foreign feature CATANE, written and directed by Ioana Mischie, earns its first-ever nomination at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) for Emiliano Mazzenga’s breathtaking original score — nominated among the five best film scores worldwide in the Independent Foreign Film category.
This marks a historic milestone, representing the first Romanian feature ever nominated at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and opening new creative horizons for future cross-border Romanian-Italian-American productions. The film is designed as a Romanian-Italian co-production and was proudly supported by Eurimages.
The professional collaboration between writer/director Ioana Mischie and composer Emiliano Mazzenga was facilitated at first by the Fulbright scholarship at USC School of Cinematic Arts. “It is a tremendous honour to work with brilliant talents from my own generation and to advance the cinematic medium in collaboration.” added Ioana Mischie. “The original music created by Emiliano Mazzenga is a one-of-a-kind unifying tissue of multiple contrasting realities in the story, conveying a recognisable aura to the entire cinematic manifesto. His deeply moving music elevates the film into an unforgettable world.”
According to Emiliano Mazzenga, the composer of the film “It truly is a dream for a composer to work on such an inspiring and poetic film. With Ioana, there was a beautiful creative synergy that allowed for many musical experiments and explorations. From day one, the intent was to find a sound that belongs to the village world and becomes a part of it, fully integrated with the characters and the environment. The natural landscapes are such important characters in the film that I wrote one of the main themes to capture their rare spiritual essence.”
While detailing the methodological process Mazzenga adds: “For the score, I recorded a few instruments myself (including sax, clarinet, and piano), and we also recorded several instruments (like accordion, violin, viola, and cello) with talented musicians from around the world. We made a conscious choice to use simple instruments, like those that can be found in a village, but to combine them and shape the sound in a unique and experimental way.”
While the script was developed for a decade, the film was produced over the course of two years and post-production took two more years. Developed through prestigious international incubators including Berlinale Talents, the Sundance Workshop, and Les Arcs Film School Village, and multi-awarded for the script in the early development phase CATANE is a daring, darkly humorous, and poetically enchanting visual debut feature inspired by striking real events. The film showcases Ioana Mischie’s distinctive voice as an innovative cinematic storyteller. Rooted in social urgency and poetic surrealism, the absurd comedy offers an unconventional ensemble story battling a corrupted society, anchored in an isolated rural universe. The philosophy of the film can be revealed simply: even if a societal system may fail — the human spirit never does.
Inspired by Wes Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Pallaoro, Rungano Nyoni, Ruben Ostlund, but with a strong creative DNA of its own, the film promises to become one of the magnetizing Eastern European comedies of 2026: “My goal was to depict multiple perspectives of today’s broken world, while aiming to craft a new poetic worldview.” declared Ioana Mischie.
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards is the first major organization to honor original music (song and score) across all forms of visual media — from film and television to games, advertising, and digital content. Widely regarded as a reliable precursor to the Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globes, the HMMAs are held annually in Los Angeles and attract nominees from across the world, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to independent and international productions. Previous honorees include Hans Zimmer, Billie Eilish, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Diane Warren, Trent Reznor, and Ludwig Göransson.
Emiliano Mazzenga is an award-winning Italian composer based in Los Angeles whose work has premiered at Tribeca Festival, HollyShorts, TCL Chinese Theatre, and Lincoln Center. Recipient of more than 20 Best Music Awards, his credits include Dalí, Lacuna, Beta, and Mistake.
He has recorded and conducted his music at world-renowned studios such as Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage, Capitol Studios, EastWest Studios, and Vienna Synchron Stage, and has contributed to major Hollywood productions including Creed III and The Mandalorian. A graduate of USC’s prestigious Screen Scoring Master’s Program, Mazzenga was awarded the Harry Warren Scholarship for excellence.
? www.emilianomazzenga.com
Ioana Mischie is a multi-award-winning Romanian writer-director, futurist, and Fulbright Grantee Alumna of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Her transmedia storytelling work — across film, virtual reality, and interactive formats — has been showcased at over 250 festivals worldwide (including Cannes IFF, Venice Biennale IFF, Shanghai IFF) and honored with The Webby Awards, European XR Awards, and the Fipadoc Smart Award. A pioneer of a new audiovisual genre she defines as “noetic fiction,” Mischie explores futures fueled by human consciousness in projects such as Government of Children, Tangible Utopias, Human Violins, and DreamNA. Her innovations include Romania’s first stereoscopic feature, a multi-player immersive franchise, and one of the first creative integrations of AI in cinema. A book contributor to MIT Press and NYU Press publications, and a lecturer at UNATC Bucharest, Ioana Mischie is also a frequent international speaker — including at TEDxBucharest Women Bold & Brilliant — where she champions storytellers as, in her words, “the architects of the future.” or considering artists to be “the most playful inventors of our world.”
? www.ioanamischie.com
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Sales Agent: Intramovies (www.intramovies.com)
Produced by: Studioset (Romania) și Mammut Film (Italy)
CATANE is a Romanian-Italian co-production. The film, produced by Studioset Production (Romania), Storyscapes (Romania), and Mammut Film (Italy), received support from the National Center for Cinematography (Romania), from the Italian co-producers at MIFEC, as well as funding from EURIMAGES.
Sponsors: Publicis Romania, McCann Worldgroup Romania, Media Investment, Valvis, Ursus, PPC, Altex, Aqua Carpatica, Flamicom, IQ Rental, Cutare Film, Albalact.
Partners: Romanian Cultural Institute and the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale”.
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