We speak with Margherita Ferri as she prepares her third film, Piercing. Meanwhile, her previous feature, The Boy with Pink Pants [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Margherita Ferri
scheda film], which has been a box-office success in Italy since its release in November 2024 with Eagle Pictures, arrives in Spanish cinemas on 17 April, distributed by Filmax, following its screening at the upcoming Malaga Film Festival, in the Mosaico: Panorama Internacional section.

Cineuropa: Does your new feature film also star young people?
Margherita Ferri: Yes, it's called Piercing, and it follows three teenagers. I've been writing it for years. They come from a working-class neighbourhood in Bologna, where we filmed, and each of them has problems with their parents and friends. They’re a bit unruly, each in their own way, and one day they pierce their own lips in a bathroom as part of a friendship pact. But in doing so, they discover that they have strange superpowers. It's like a genre film, but with a very naturalistic, realistic style. It blends new neorealism with superheroes, because there’s a supernatural element embedded within that working-class setting.

But is it an autobiographical story or fiction?
The inspiration for Piercing came from when I was filming documentaries and met people of all ages and backgrounds. For instance, I once met a pregnant teenager, and one of the protagonists in this film is also expecting. The supernatural element is a metaphor for that age, when you feel invincible. In the film, I turn that feeling into something literal; you feel like you have no limits, something we can all relate to. When you’re a teenager, you test the boundaries of your life and you’re not afraid of death.

So you continue to focus on adolescence in your films, a very special time in your life when everything feels like a huge drama or a big party...
Yes, at that age the possibilities seem limitless, but it’s also frightening, because your relationship with death is completely unreal. That’s something that appears in the films I direct. It’s fascinating because you feel invisible and you’re not afraid of the consequences of your actions. In The Boy with Pink Pants, which is based on a true story of Andrea Spezzacatena, the protagonist doesn’t understand the real consequences of attempting suicide. It could have been a darker film, but I didn't want to make something nihilistic or hopeless. All the characters in this film and the previous one share that magical sense of adolescence: exaggeration, the absolute intensity of feelings. When you feel something, it is total, definitive. As a narrative device, it’s appealing because teenage characters allow the story to take turns that would require much stronger motivations in adult roles. It’s the key moment when you’re becoming a person. It’s a stage that we’ve all lived through and can identify with. The questions you ask yourself at 15, 16 or 17 are the same, whether you’re gay or straight, pregnant or an athlete. The answers change, but the questions about identity remain.

Why did you decide to direct a film about a true story as shocking as The Boy with Pink Pants?
I read the project because my agent sent it to me. The production company had acquired the rights to the book written by Teresa Manes, Andrea's mother, and they were already working on the script. The idea wasn't mine, but I knew immediately that I wanted to direct it. I remember when it happened, in 2012. I was living in Rome and I’m part of the LGBTQI+ community, so I took part in a march after Andrea died. That event greatly changed the LGBTQI+ rights movement in Italy: it raised awareness. Knowing that such a young boy decided to take his own life because he was considered “different” was too painful and unacceptable. It was important to me that the film was directed by someone with the right perspective. We had to respect Teresa's pain — since Andrea’s death, she has been fighting to raise awareness among young people about bullying and its consequences. This is a film about homophobia, but above all about empathy.

Did you have to change anything in the book to adapt it for the big screen?
Yes. The book begins with Teresa discovering her son's death, while the film begins with Andrea's birth. He left no notes or explanations, which adds to the tragedy. The story is told from her perspective. At the end of the film, when we see her writing the book, the voiceover changes from Andrea to Teresa — it becomes her statement of what she believes happened, even though she cannot be certain.

Why did you decide not to show the moment of death?
It was essential that the film be about Andrea's life, not his disappearance. Before entering the cinema, you already know how the film ends. Teresa wanted a film that was lively and full of energy, just like her son. That’s why this is a film about empathy: only by developing empathy towards others can we build the society we want to live in.

But bullying persists today... why?
Bullying can be psychological, physical, or digital violence. It arises from negative human emotions. I didn't want to portray the bully as a science fiction villain, but as someone unable to manage his own feelings, who turns them into violence. The solution lies in education, not only within the family, but also as a society. It is more necessary than ever.

Can social media exacerbate this problem?
Every social space, whether digital or physical, shapes teenagers' identities. For them, a comment or a “like” can be like a bullet; it has the same impact as a punch on a football pitch. It’s important for adults to understand this.

Andrea was an ultra-sensitive boy. Why is sensitivity rejected as something exclusively feminine by a certain toxic masculinity?
The rigid division between masculine and feminine is a system of oppression; it doesn’t reflect who we really are, because we are more complex. I worked on this with the young actors, especially Samuele Carrino, who plays Andrea, and Andrea Arru, who plays Christian. Christian doesn’t bully because he is evil, but because he’s afraid of the way Andrea expresses his feelings and identity. We don’t know whether Andrea was heterosexual or gay — and it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that he breaks gender expectations. The film is less about homosexuality and more about challenging the social norms and expectations attached to gender.