My Mafia Family
Synopsis:
Mafia, sorrow, escape, abandonment, exile, power, death, and blind love. His whole life long, Giorgio, a Milanese filmmaker, has wondered how the events that so radically upset his Sicilian childhood really went; how involved his parents had been in the family “clan” that had promoted the rise of Uncle Mimmo, a Mafia boss operating in Messina back in the 1980s; who really killed that uncle and why. Pretending to shoot a film, Giorgio gets back to Sicily determined to patch together the true story of Uncle Mimmo and of the decisions and responsibilities of that period, ready to face the truth about the many festering wounds that still affect his family and his country.
Producers: Enrica Capra, Christian Popp, Davide Gambino
Director: Giorgio Carella
Nation: Italy, France
Estimated length: 90 minutes
Screenplay: Giorgio Carella, Valentina Cicogna
Editing: Tom Brauner
Photography: Nina Bernfeld
Production: Graffiti Doc Italia
Budget forecast: 472.000 €
Funding confirmed: 80.000 €
Missing resources: 140.000 €
Objective: CO-PRODUCTION, PRE-SALES
Shooting start: February 5th, 2024
Planned end of shooting : Novermber 14th, 2024
Director’s notes:
‘My Mafia Family’ wants to recount the experience of growing up in a family that for several years revolved entirely around the criminal rise of an uncle. The incurable wounds this created, the pain no one ever wanted to remember. But also the results of a blood-and-flesh love, a blind love, that of one’s roots, that of “the family,” the kind that will not brook any criticism, and that justifies all.
Production notes:
Little is known about the mafia phenomenon, and very little is known about it from the inside, apart from the rare testimonies of repentants; the result is that we all actually believe the epic, fictionalised tale of the Godfather or the Sopranos. Giorgio’s story is a unique opportunity to peel back the veil on a violent and ruthless world, and to do so through the innocent gaze of a child. A child who is now a grown up, and who has many scores to settle with a history that concerns us all.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Giorgio Carella was born in Catania in 1974. He later lived in Messina, Sappada (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), before settling in Milan. After graduating in directing from Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti, Giorgio made several documentaries and short films. In parallel to his work as a theatre
director and as DOP in cinema, he holds acting classes, writes novels, and directs making-ofs, such as the one for Sorrentino’s ‘Il Divo’.
PRODUCTION Graffiti Doc Italia | PRODUCER Enrica Capra | CONTACTS enrica@graffitidoc.it
Since its foundation in Turin in 2004, Graffiti has produced films selected and awarded worlwide, both for cinema and for the main public channels. Among its latest works, the animated feature NO DOGS OR ITALIANS ALLOWED by Alain Ughetto, EFA 2022 Best Animated Feature, intl premiere at Locarno FF, Jury Award at Annecy FF; GORGONA by Antonio Tibaldi (2022), Best Feature at Popoli FF; FROM THE PLANET OF THE HUMANS by Giovanni Cioni (2021), intl premiere at Locarno FF, Best Feature at Popoli FF.