18/04/2023 - We talk to one of the producers behind Roberto Saviano’s debut animated feature film, which he also wrote and which won the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award at this year’s Cartoon Movie

One month on from Sono ancora vivo scooping the prestigious Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (worth €20,000) at this year’s Cartoon Movie, we seized the opportunity to sit down with one of its producers, Carlo Stella. The first feature film written and directed by writer Roberto Saviano, Sono ancora vivo is co-produced by Italian firms MAD Entertainment and Lucky Red, alongside Israel’s SIPUR and Belgium’s Gapbusters.

Cineuropa: What is Sono ancora vivo about and what are the main themes tackled in the project?
Carlo Stella: Sono ancora vivo is Roberto Saviano’s first real opportunity to talk about himself, about his most intimate, hidden side. As well as covering his public battles, his determination to denounce wrongdoing, his capacity to investigate and his courage as a journalist “sentenced” to live under police protection, Saviano talks about his childhood, his family, his loves, his dreams, and his inner world, examining the various stages of his life: before, during and after Gomorrah.

How will you use the prize money you won?
The recognition we won from Eurimages will be crucial for plugging the financial gap, but also for enhancing the project’s international value. We’ll use it to amplify and enhance the story’s development, which there are high expectations for.

How important has your participation in Cartoon Movie been for you, overall?
Cartoon Movie is, without a doubt, one of the biggest events in the sector, a dynamic gathering of great international scope which we’ve attended several times with our projects, because it’s an essential event for development and exchange. We had the honour of being selected this year too, and presented our project Sono ancora vivo to an audience of animation professionals from Europe and elsewhere for the very first time. It’s been a vital theatre for us, where we could gauge people’s all-important reactions for the first time, which provided us with different kinds of operational input for this Italian story of international scope.

What can you tell us about the visual concept for the project?
The project is based on a beautiful graphic novel written by Roberto Saviano and illustrated by Asaf Hanuka. The beauty and power of the book’s drawings convinced us we should entrust Asaf with the role of Concept Designer. We’re sure it’s a winning choice for lending strength of expression to Saviano’s story and conveying the ferocity and context of this story in a poetic way.

What’s next for you?
We’re finalising the graphics and the technical side of things, and implementing the film’s international pipeline with our partners, who are Belgian and Israeli to date. We’re also looking for production and distribution partners who might fall in love with our project, as we have, and add further production value.

Do you know when the film will be ready?
2023 and 2024 will be devoted to development and production, which we expect to finalise in 2025.

(Translated from Italian)