There is a wind blowing from the Calabrian Apennines to Dotta Bologna and hopes to get to the hills of Hollywood, bringing with it the scent of the land of origin and the flavor of the unexpected. It is the wind that pushed Francesco Costabile, forty -four year old director with deep roots in the South, towards a nomination that has the flavor of the prodigy: “Familia” will represent Italy in the Oscar race 2026 for the best international film.
The decision of the Anica Commission has caught everyone by surprise, like a lightning bolt that illuminates hidden landscapes. The Cosentino filmmaker, who in one of his first statements candidly confessed to having thought of a telephone joke. Thus, the second career film of Costabile has allowed itself the luxury of preceding illustrious names – Martone, Salvatores, Rosi, Avati – in a courageous and precious choice. It is the victory of Calabria that does not surrender, of the province who knows how to speak to the world without losing its soul.
From Cosenza to Bologna, the Costabile path is that of those who always carry their roots with them, as a seeds of passion hidden in the heart and ready to sprout. Graduated from Dams in the city of the two towers, he built his life by dividing himself between the art of cinema and teaching at school, where he forms young minds in the technical laboratories of graphics and communication. It is the perfect balance between the dream and reality, between the poetry of the image and the concreteness of the newspaper. “Familia” was born from this double nature: it is a film that knows how to be universal while remaining deeply rooted. Domestic violence, the central theme of the work, is told with the delicacy of those who know the pain but also the strength of the rebirth. It is a cinema that does not scream but whispers. Avoid expressing judgments. Leave a sigh of hope in the midst of a sea of drama.
The story is taken from a true story inspired by the book “It will not always be like that”, written by one of the protagonists of the events narrated, Luigi Celeste.
The Calabrian director represents a new generation of filmmakers who do not need to deny the origins to conquer the world. His Calabria leaves the postcard effect to become substance. Without folklore. It is the land that forged his gaze, making him capable of looking beyond appearances, of digging into the human soul with the patience of those who know the weight of certain stories and the strength of change.
Thus, while Italian cinema celebrates this unexpected choice, Francesco Costabile continues its double life between classrooms and sets, between students and actors, between Bologna and the world. Dreaming of the Losangeline hills. With that same sense of normality that made a special film “familia”. Which arises from real life, from those who know that the most authentic art is the one I never forget where it comes from. Now the South looks Hollywood with different eyes, knowing that one of its children, perhaps, will bring up a film and a piece of that ancient land that still manages to amaze the world.