Giacomo Abbruzzese on the Future: Migration, Injustice, and Environmental Catastrophe

Italian filmmaker Giacomo Abbruzzese, born in Taranto in 1983, won the Silver Bear at the 2023 Berlinale for his debut feature 'Disco Boy' starring Franz Rogowski. In an interview, he discusses his inspirations (Dostoevsky, Kafka, Godard, Rothko) and his short film 'Fireworks' (2010) about ecoterrorists bombing the Ilva steel plant in Taranto. He shot aerial footage of the plant on January 1 by renting a helicopter and deceiving control towers, capturing unique imagery of the site, which was later subject to arrests for environmental disaster. Abbruzzese emphasizes the importance of location in filmmaking, stating that places inspire mise-en-scène and that he needs the challenge of reality. He sees time as cyclical and believes the past constantly contaminates the present. Advising young filmmakers, he recommends making self-produced short films with friends and taking time for research and editing. Regarding the future, he identifies migration, social injustice, and environmental catastrophe as the key drivers of the next twenty years, criticizing politics as mere emergency management lacking vision.