It has now become a habit. These days, Cosenza is the location of a film production. Thanks to the valuable work of the Calabria Film Commission Foundation, chaired by Anton Giulio Grande and led by the manager Giampaolo Calabrese, the Bruzio capital is hosting the first takes of «I don’t leave you alone»The new film by Fabrizio Cattaniproduced by Minerva Pictures, Solaria Film, Ipotesi Cinema and RC Produzione, and based on the novel of the same name by Gianluca Antoni. Filming will take place for 4 weeks in Calabria and in addition to Cosenza it will involve Camigliatello Silano, Spezzano, Celico, San Giovanni in Fiore, Rende and Castrolibero.
The film tells a story of friendship between two teenagers, a coming of age in which Filo and Rullo (played by Andrea Matrone and Michael D’Arma) secretly leave to look for Birillo, the dog lost by Filo’s father, a widowed lawyer played by Giorgio Pasottiactor, director, theater director and co-founder of a production company (Wonder Film) that needs no introduction, and that we met in one of the rare breaks from the footage.
Tell us a little about your character, Filo’s dad…
«Yes, it is the character of Paris. He is a man, a father, a lawyer who became a widower after the death of his wife and above all left a motherless son. Consequently he lives in a perpetual state of guilt, not only because nature told him wrong, but above all because he has a secret: his son actually had a twin, who died in an accident for which he blames and is responsible. to his wife’s brother. This wife’s brother, a certain Guelph, will meet him and will try to take revenge…”.
How did your involvement in this film come about?
«Fabrizio Cattani, the director and screenwriter, contacted me right at the beginning, when the film was still in an almost embryonic state. There was the novel from which the screenplay was based, but nothing else. Fabrizio immediately thought of me for the role of Paris. He offered it to me. I read the script. I immediately fell in love with this very tender, very delicate story. They are those films that put you at peace with the choice of being an actor. Which bring with them characteristics that are very difficult to encounter today in an overly commercial Italian cinema.”
Is this your first time coming to Cosenza?
«I have come to Calabria several times, I have also shot other films. And I came to Cosenza, to the theater, many years ago with a show by Massimiliano Bruno, “A Midsummer Night’s Dreams”».
Actor, director, director of the Teatro Stabile d’Abruzzo and producer with Wonder Film: how do you manage to reconcile work and private life?
«Well, I can’t (laughs). And when I succeed, I succeed badly. Life makes me pay for the weight of these jobs, which I myself sought, taking away space from the private. So, like a tightrope walker I try to be and get everywhere, but very often I don’t make it. The remedy I have devised is to try to distribute forces and time more equally. It’s not easy, I’m still learning.”
Will we see you first at the cinema, on TV or in the theatre? Give us some previews…
«Now I’m on stage with Alessandro Gassmann’s show, “Racconti inhumani”, which was the workhorse of his father Vittorio, who was one of the first to bring Franz Kafka to Italy. And he finally had the courage to put this show back on. Alessandro as director, me as actor. A few days ago, however, there was the premiere of “Settimo Grado” which will be distributed by TimVision and Sky for the “cinema platform”. It is directed by Massimo Cappelli, and it is a very particular film of a genre that is not well definable, between drama, fantasy and thriller. And then. I think in March, I will start filming a TV film that tells the story of Eugenio Monti, the greatest Italian bobsledder. And it will be a film that ideally opens the Winter Olympics in Milan, Cortina 2026. In between, there will be no shortage of theatrical directions of operas. In short, it will be a very, very dense, very full 2025.”
At the end of the day we also stopped with Fabrizio Cattanithe director of the film supported by the Calabria Film Commission Foundation, which the filmmaker also praised.
For some years now, Cosenza and Calabria have been becoming a first choice for many television film productions…
«Calabria is wonderful. I would have liked to shoot in all the places I visited, they were beautiful and also right. I have to thank the Calabria Film Commission which gave us a lot of help, I think it is among the best Italian Film Commissions. It brings productions to the territory and offers concrete support. And other of my fellow directors think so too. Alessio Boni was there, and he had a great time shooting Don Quixote. Giulio Base, who was also very impressed by old Cosenza, which is also beautiful. And applause also goes to the local professionals: set designers, assistant operators, costume designers.”
Let’s talk about the film: it’s the first time you’ve attempted a coming of age.
«Yes, it was a challenge because usually my themes are much more social, linked to neorealism. In this case, I approached a more fantasy genre, which however has within it a topic that absolutely had to be proposed: the mourning process of a child who loses his mother. The film is a coming-of-age noir adventure about young people. I believe there is a lot of superficiality on the part of today’s young people, very tied to appearance and loneliness. On the contrary, ours is a story where there is a union between two friends who together, only together, will then be able to make that part of the self that can give you serenity prevail.”
The film is based on a successful novel, that of Gianluca Antoni. What is your approach to screenplays when they are inspired by a story that already exists?
«I make my own vision. It’s clear that everything you read cannot be transposed cinematically, the only way, I’m not saying is to distort it, but to revisit it in a cinematic guise. I faithfully stuck to the story of the book, although I had to change some things and sacrifice some characters. I had difficulty communicating it to Gianluca Antoni, but he understood.”