Daniele Vicari wraps filming on Ammazzare stanca

by Camillo De Marco

05/12/2024 - Mompracem and Beta Film are producing the Italian director’s new movie, based on the autobiography of a boy who rebelled against his criminal fate in the Seventies

Daniele Vicari wraps filming on Ammazzare stanca

(l-r) Producer Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, director Daniele Vicari, actors Cristiana Vaccaro, Vinicio Marchioni, Gabriel Montesi, Selene Caramazza, Rocco Papaleo, Thomas Trabacchi and Andrea Fuorto and producers Antonio and Marco Manetti (© Fabio Lovino)

Recent days have seen filming wrap on Daniele Vicari’s new movie Ammazzare stanca. The shoot lasted eight weeks, unfolding in Emilia-Romagna and Calabria.

Written by Daniele Vicari and Andrea Cedrola, the work is loosely based on Antonio Zagari’s autobiography of the same name, which explores how he rebelled against the criminal path set out before him. It’s set in the early Seventies and the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta is spreading its influence and reigning supreme, from the south to the north of the region. Antonio, the son of a dangerous Calabrian boss called Giacomo Zagari who has transferred to Lombardy, finds himself killing more and more frequently and ultimately realising that he isn’t suited to this extreme lifestyle. While his peers are rebelling in factories, universities and town squares, Antonio finds the courage to go up against his father, rejecting his legacy.

Daniele Vicari has always alternated between documentary cinema and fiction films, with his latest titles including the documentary Fela, My Living God [+see also:
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film profile], which screened out of competition in Turin 2022, and Il giorno e la notte dating back to 2021. His most successful work, Diaz – Don’t Clean Up This Blood [+see also:
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film profile], was presented in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2012 and scooped four David di Donatello awards.

“I read Antonio Zagari’s autobiography many years ago” – the director explained – “and right away I thought it would be worth turning it into a film, because this story combines lots of things that I’m passionate about: action, family conflict, the desire for emancipation, love, tragedy and irony. There’s also an overview of the twenty years spanning the ‘70s and ‘80s, the story of a particular generation; difficult, controversial years which were also full of vitality and hope even amidst tragedy. This desire materialised into a project when I met Carlo Macchitella, together with Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Antonio and Marco Manetti, who proved precious companions on my journey”.

The film is being produced by Mompracem, who have acquired the rights to the book, together with RAI Cinema, in co-production with Germany’s Beta Film and with the support of the Emilia-Romagna Film Commission. Beta Cinema are handling international sales.

(Translated from Italian)