Francesco Costabile returns to the cinema with Familia, a film that digs at the point where an individual story stops being private “only” and becomes a collective theme. The film, taken from autobiography It will not always be like Luigi Celeste, who in 2008 killed his father to defend his mother and for this reason condemned to nine years of imprisonment, was selected to represent Italy to the Oscars of 2026 as “best international film”. We interviewed him in New York during the Italy on Screen Today festival.
When do you think history stops being a private fact and becomes a universal theme that concerns everyone?
I think all stories are private public at the same time. Our lives, if you truly live, always have a public narrative. Of course, some stories, like that of Luigi Celeste, so tragic and dramatic, take on a multi-faceted value because the story of Luigi is the story of many children who have undergone abuse during their childhood. And Luigi had the courage and strength to expose himself, first through a book and then through a film. It is important because the story, the narrative that is often made even in the black chronicle, is a flat, superficial, cold narrative. Very cold. Instead, the narrative of those who lived in the first person these stories is an empathetic narrative, personal and, together, universal.
Among the first screenings you’ve already done in the United States, what is the reaction of the American audience that surprised you most?
I was saying before that, while in Italy I am accustomed to speaking with audiences of people, boys, women and men already in this subject because it speaks so much in Italy, here less. Here there is the urgency and desire to talk about it, but they are not quite accustomed to discussing, talking about gender violence. This is the big difference.
If I had to talk to an American and tell him why seeing this movie is important, what would you say?
For an American, as for any other person, this film is important to make an experience, because I think cinema is an experiential art: allows us to live an experience. And through this film you can know violence, live it from within and gain an awareness. It is important, especially when talking about psychological violence, to realize that we are sometimes unknowing victims. Many people approached by telling me that this film somehow opened their eyes on past experiences that somehow, in different form, approached the history of men.
When you started making a director, was the chance to go to the Oscars achievable?
No! I never imagined it, dreamed, and then I got this totally unexpected news a few months ago. And it is very nice because I was catapulted in this world without expectations, and this helps me enjoy the moment… You know, it’s the second movie, then I also had so many important competitors, so no, I never thought about it.
L’articolo Francesco Costabile tells “Familia”, arrived at the Oscars proviene da IlNewyorkese.
