Piranhas | La paranza dei bambini | Haifa 40th International Film Festival

After decades of Mafia movies, the genre often struggles to shock and surprise audiences who think they’ve witnessed every iteration of organized crime onscreen. But the opening moments of Italy’s “Piranhas” [...] are arresting, engaging even seen-it-all viewers.

Los Angeles Times

Archive - Festival 35
Director: Claudio Giovannesi
Italy 2019
110 minutes
Italian
Subtitles in Hebrew, English

15-year-old Nicola is happy to tear around the Sanita neighborhood of Naples with his delinquent friends. The neighborhood is under the control of a notorious Mafia outfit, Nicola decides to join, and his criminal activities soon leads him to the irreversible sacrifice of love and friendship.

Winner of the Best Screenplay Award in the Berlin Festival, Piranhas is based on the novel by Roberto Saviano (Gomorrah). This harrowing, riveting tale of gang violence is the third film by Claudio Giovannesi to be screened in the Haifa IFF.

Filmography: Fiore (2016), Alì Blue Eyes (2012), La casa sulle nuvole (2009).

Director Claudio Giovannesi
Production Carlo Degli Esposti, Nicola Serra
Script Maurizio Braucci, Roberto Saviano, Claudio Giovannesi
Cinematography Daniele Ciprì
Editing Giuseppe Trepiccione
Music Andrea Moscianese, Claudio Giovannesi
Festivals Berlinale (Best Screenplay Award), Chicago, Shanghai
Actors Francesco Di Napoli, Ar Tem, Alfredo Turitto, Viviana Aprea, Valentina Vannino
Source Elle Driver, Paris