02/02/2026 - Renato De Maria dedicates an unmissable biopic to the versatile Sicilian musician, following him from his most experimental period to his subsequent conquest of public acclaim

Franco Battiato is, without a doubt, the most Unidentifiable Flying Object to have graced the Italian artistic landscape in the past 50 years. Multi-talented, provocative and unconventional, Battiato fused pop, avant-garde approaches, spirituality and philosophy to create exceptional literary and sound pastiches. Which other musician could have has enticed thousands of youngsters to dance in the rain to a song conveying the philosophy of Greek-Armenian mystic Georges Ivanovič Gurdjeff, as Battiato did with Centro di Gravità Permanente in Rome’s First of May concert in 1997?

Director Renato De Maria is dedicating an unmissable biopic to this Sicilian musician who passed away in 2021, entitled Franco Battiato. Il lungo viaggio, a movie distributed in Italian cinemas in exclusive event screenings taking place on 2, 3 and 4 February, courtesy of Nexo Studios. Written by Monica Rametta – whose credits also include screenplays for a film, a TV film and a documentary about singer-songwriters Mia Martini, Nada and Laura Pausini – the film follows Battiato from his childhood in Sicily to his arrival in Milan, the subsequent mainstream success he enjoyed, his performance in the Vatican in front of Pope John Paul II, and his definitive return to his home region.

The film inevitably opens with evocative images of Mount Etna, the volcano which had a profound influence on Battiato’s writing, representing Sicilian rootedness and spiritual soul searching, and referenced in his lyrics and videos as a regenerating, cosmic force and a setting for purification and elevation. We see that, even as a child, the artist enjoyed a lifelong special relationship with his mother Grazia, played with sensitivity and empathy by Simona Malato (Misericordia, The Macaluso Sisters). Franco arrives in Milan and forges relationships with singer-songwriters of the era, but in the early Seventies he abandons the song form to embark upon a rigorously experimental path of cultured avant-garde music, which results in his first album, Fetus – a psychedelic inner journey inspired by Albous Huxley’s Brave New World – and his subsequent work, Pollution.

The performance delivered by Dario Aita (who previously confirmed his talent in Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope) is stupefying, to say the least, for how he recreates charismatic Battiato’s movements and speech (and singing!), the artist’s endless posing of the eternal question “Who am I?”, and the feelings of peace he manages to infuse in all those around him, as demonstrated by his philosophical reaction when he finds out that the person creating his album covers – music producer and photographer Gianni Sassi (Cisky Capizzi) – has used a photo of him (with his stars and stripes trousers and wild, long, curly hair) for a sofa advertising campaign. The film shows multiple episodes from those adventurous years, whose credibility is enhanced by the brilliant work of Sara Purgatorio on photography and Mariangela Caggiani on set design, and of Olivia Bellini and Andrea Cavalletto on costumes. The director highlights Battiato’s meeting and long-term friendship with Fleur Jaeggy (Elena Radonicich), the Swiss writer who later collaborates on some of his lyrics, and the artistic partnership he enjoys with both Juri Camisasca (Ermes Frattini) and violinist Giusto Pio (Giulio Forges Davanzati). The latter is associated with a period (the early Eighties) when Battiato decides to change direction once again, after days of deep spiritual and artistic crisis, and announces to his producers that he’d now be writing hit pop songs. These songs go on to become iconic and also bring glory to the performances of two singers from his “team”, Alice and Giuni Russo. De Maria also makes room for the aesthetics of the music videos accompanying these songs, which were directed by Battiato himself. It’s impossible to fully convey the glittering and polymorphous artistic and inner kaleidoscope of this man who sought to synthesise complexity and linearity, but De Maria’s movie paints an accurate and well-researched portrait, revealing the artist’s passion and humanity. A portrait which might even arouse the curiosity of those who don’t yet know him.

Franco Battiato. Il lungo viaggio was produced by RAI Fiction and Casta Diva Pictures.

(Translated from Italian)