Francesco Piras’s Zustissia, starring Michele Riondino and Fabrizio Ferracane, enters the editing stage
- Inspired by what is considered the longest miscarriage of justice in Italian history, the film will be released in cinemas on 15 October by PiperFilm, which is producing it with Palomar
Zustissia, the feature debut by Francesco Piras, is currently at the editing stage. Piras previously directed the shorts Tilipirche, presented in Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week, and Il nostro concerto, which was nominated for a David di Donatello, and served as director of photography on Bentu. The film is inspired by the story of Beniamino Zuncheddu, who was at the centre of what is considered the longest miscarriage of justice in Italian history. Based on the book I Am Innocent by Mauro Trogu and Zuncheddu, published in Italy by De Agostini, the film will be released in Italian cinemas on 15 October, distributed by PiperFilm.
The cast is toplined by Michele Riondino (Palazzina Laf, which earned him the David di Donatello Award for Best Actor and three Nastri d'Argento, including for Best New Director; recently seen in Illusion, Primavera and The Holy Boy), Fabrizio Ferracane (winner of the Nastri d'Argento for Best Supporting Actor for The Traitor, and also nominated for a David di Donatello for Black Souls and The Inner Cage), Paola Giannini, Jacopo Cullin (The Man Who Bought the Moon) and Francesco Colella (recently seen in Gioia and Love Divine). The cast is rounded off by Geppi Cucciari (Diamanti, Life Is Life) and French actress Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Colours of Time, Mother and Son).
The screenplay was written by Lisa Nur Sultan, who was nominated for the David di Donatello Award for Best Screenplay for On My Skin, for which she also won the Globo d'oro, and received a Special Prize at the Nastri d'Argento – Grandi Serie for The Split, and Niccolò Gentili.
Set among the mountains of southern Sardinia, Zustissia reconstructs the 1991 triple homicide that led to Zuncheddu being sentenced to life imprisonment. He spent 33 years in prison before being definitively acquitted on 26 January 2024, following a retrial initiated by lawyer Mauro Trogu. Through the story of this lengthy legal battle, the film explores the themes of wrongful conviction, the search for truth and justice.
“It is an investigative film, a socially engaged movie, and a story of friendship and love,” reads the synopsis. “Love for ‘sa zustissia’, love for the truth and love for the mountains – those magnificent mountains from which Beniamino was kept away for an entire lifetime, and to which he has now finally returned.”
Zustissia is being produced by Carlo Degli Esposti, Nicola Serra and Marco Grifoni for Palomar, a Mediawan Group company, and by Massimiliano Orfei, Luisa Borella and Davide Novelli for PiperFilm, in collaboration with Netflix and Rai Cinema. Patrizia Massa serves as executive producer, while Lisa Nur Sultan is also credited as an associate producer.
The film was made with support from the Italian Ministry of Culture’s Fund for the Development of Investments in Cinema and Audiovisual Works and the Autonomous Region of Sardinia.
(Translated from Italian)
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