FAMILIA
directed by Francesco Costabile
Film screening (120 min.)
With the participation of Movie Director
Francesco Costabile
in conversation with
Claudio Pagliara, Director
Italian Cultural Institute in New York
Based on the novel
Non sarà sempre così – It won’t be like this forever
by Luigi Celeste
FAMILIA is a dark drama, with contaminations from different languages of genre cinema: from the psychological thriller to the horror flick to the social-commentary drama. In these contaminations there’s a desire to experiment, to engage the viewer, to go deep and make this a universal story. As an experiential tool, cinema allows us to learn about inaccessible microcosms, it allows us to eviscerate emotions, open the narrative to a complexity of perspective and thought. FAMILIA has this specific goal, to tell a story of violence – especially when it’s psychological and witnessed – and to show the deep wounds that can forever mar a childhood.
Rome, early 2000s. Luigi Celeste, known as Gigi, lives with his brother Alessandro and their mother Licia, who separated from their violent father Franco. Gigi finds an outlet for his anger and a sense of family with a group of skinheads. When Franco is released from prison and reappears in their lives, Gigi is forced to confront his past and make crucial decisions about his future. “Familia” is a dark psychological portrait of a son’s desperate love for his father and a father’s plea for redemption — a journey into the abyss and a quest for self-discovery at any cost.
Francesco Costabile studied Directing at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and started his career making award-winning shorts. He has made several documentaries including “In un futuro aprile” (2020) about Pier Paolo Pasolini. In 2022, he directed and co-wrote “Una Femmina”, which premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival, won the David di Donatello for Best First Feature, two European Golden Globes for Best First Feature and Best Actress (Lina Siciliano), and had its Minnesota premiere to great emotional response at IFF 2023.
Familia has been officially chosen to represent Italy in the race for the 2026 Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category. Familia will now move forward to the next phase of the competition, aiming for inclusion in the Academy’s shortlist of 15 films to be announced on December 16, 2025.
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