Shooting begins on Paola Randi’s Se domani non torno
- Filming is kicking off in the Veneto region on the film inspired by the murder of Giulia Cecchettin in 2023, starring Filippo Timi and Sabrina Martina
The 2023 murder of Giulia Cecchettin by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta (who was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment) was one of the most anger-provoking crimes in Italy in recent years, spurring a wide-ranging debate on femicide. Taking her cue from the book Cara Giulia, published by the victim’s father, Gino Cecchettin, together with Marco Franzoso, director Paola Randi joined forces with Lisa Nur Sultan to co-write the screenplay for her new film, on which shooting is now kicking off in the Veneto region.
Produced by Notorious Pictures in collaboration with Mediaset and Sky, Randi’s film is entitled Se domani non torno, after the poem by young Peruvian activist Cristina Torres Cáceres who has since become a symbol for the fight against violence against women. This is the Milanese filmmaker’s fourth fiction feature after The Story of Frank and Nina [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], presented in the Orizzonti Extra line-up in the 2024 Venice Film Festival, La Befana vien di notte II - Le origini [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Little Tito and the Aliens [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paola Randi
film profile] (selected in competition in the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, triumphant in Bif&st-Bari 2018 and awarded a Nastro d’Argento for its story) and her 2010 debut, Into Paradiso [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which screened in Venice 2010’s Controcampo Italiano section.
The cast of Se domani non torno features Filippo Timi (nominated for a David di Donatello and a European Film Award via Vincere [+see also:
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interview: Cannes 2009
Marco Bellocc…
interview: Filippo Timi - actor
film profile], also David-nominated for The Eight Mountains [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen & Char…
film profile], awarded a Nastro d’Argento for The Invisible Thread [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and soon to hit Italian cinemas with The Eyes of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) as Gino Cecchettin, Sabrina Martina (L’Arca, Odio l’estate [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as Giulia, Tecla Bossi as Giulia’s sister, Elena, and Tommaso Allione as her brother, Davide.
According to the producers of Se domani non torno, the film isn’t simply the re-telling of a news item, it “stems from the urgency to tell a story which digs deeper rather than making further noise about what we already know.” With the backing and support of Gino and his family, the film is looking to carry across the aims of Cara Giulia and of the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation to the big screen. “And it looks to do so”, explains Notorious Pictures CEO Guglielmo Marchetti, “in the broadest and most cross-cutting way possible, precisely in order to reach those boys and girls who are increasingly finding themselves are at the centre of all too many stories which are similar to Giulia’s, and to reach adults, parents, teachers, brothers and sisters - all of us who, in one way or another, bear our share of responsibility in legitimising certain behaviours”.
"We are convinced,” Marchetti continues, “that cinema can be a tool for social impact. The film aims to move beyond a simple news item to become the vehicle for an accessible and necessary societal message. We thank Gino Cecchettin and his family for the trust and openness with which they’ve embraced our proposal. With humility and a sense of responsibility, we want to turn this testimony into a collective work that speaks to young people, to schools and to society as a whole. Our goal is to raise awareness and help drive change”.
By way of Paola Randi’s film, Notorious Pictures is looking to amplify and offer solid support to “the extraordinary work that Gino is carrying out through the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation, giving it a new, ethical and accessible voice, and a concrete opportunity to reach even further, encouraging greater positive change in the society we live in".
Se domani non torno will be released in Italian cinemas on 5 November 2026, three years after Giulia’s murder.
(Translated from Italian)
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