Interview with Giampietro Manzalini, Screenwriter of « FERRARA & The Young Balbo »

What inspired you to write this script?

My goal is to highlight how POLITICS and MEDIA have the power to relegate into oblivion all those events that don’t align with their narrative.
In my script, I wanted to describe how a population, just a few months after WWI, abandoned Socialist ideology in favor of the rising FASCI DI COMBATTIMENTO, led by Benito Mussolini.
My city, which I truly love, was the true heart of Italian Agrarian Fascism, led by a young, brave, and ruthless man named ITALO BALBO, who used to call Mussolini “my old friend” (and by the way, Mussolini feared him so much that on his deathbed he wrote: “Italo was the only one who could kill me.”)
Let me remind you that the agrarian forces, backed by the agri-food industries which had financed the largest land drainage project since 1870, had to fight against the opposing SOCIALIST LEAGUES who aimed to bring the RUSSIAN REVOLUTION to Italy.
These events shook my city between 1919 and 1922, creating a CIVIL WAR atmosphere that no one, I repeat no one, wants to remember today.

The script explores how the lives of ordinary people are radically changed by political events. How relevant do you think stories like this are today?

I truly believe that history repeats itself. Think about the return of Vietnam veterans:
they were marginalized just as WWI veterans were. During the war, their jobs had been taken by women and younger workers, and they were never given back.
This was also one of the causes of Fascism’s rise in Italy.

What do you hope people will take from this story?

I hope people will think before condemning an ideology, and have the humility to revise their beliefs if proven wrong.
I hope they will seek all the information they need before taking a stance on any idea.
I hope they will stop taking MEDIA, POLITICS, and the LEADING THOUGHT at face value.
I hope people will understand that what the LEADING THOUGHT presents as “truth” is not always the full picture.
Critically, I believe Fascism started as a movement with an ideology very close to Socialism — remember, Mussolini was a Socialist until WWI.
Fascism became autarchic around 1933, and from that point, political mistakes led to disaster and WWII.

We noticed you adapted this script from your own novel. Was the process difficult? Did you make any changes?

Not really. I had to reduce the number of events, highlight the most important ones, and limit the number of characters — in reality, there were far more.
I also chose to give more space to Lucia, Remo’s fiancée, and a few others.

Italian cinema is among the most fascinating in the world. Were there any films that inspired you to write this script?

Well… in my humble opinion, Italian cinema over the past 30 years has, in most cases, become quite poor.
It’s often focused on chasing public funding, which led to low-quality films, lowering the cultural level and turning the entertainment industry into a support structure for its workers.
If I had to make a film just for the sake of it, I wouldn’t do it — I’m not interested.
I want to make a film that lasts in history. Otherwise, it won’t be made.
My inspiration? Forgive the ambition: I aim for something on the level of The Leopard or The Godfather, nothing less.

Do you have any other projects you’d like to share with us?

Yes. At WFFiC April 2025, I was the WINNER of the BEST DRAMA SCRIPT award with Parisina – Punishment Without Forgiveness.
This true story from the 15th century, set between Ferrara and the Romagna region, inspired Lope de Vega, George Byron, and Gabriele d’Annunzio. It was also the basis for two lyrical tragedies by Pietro Mascagni and Gaetano Donizetti.
It tells the political and romantic entanglements of Renaissance Italy, ending with the beheading of two young lovers, Parisina and Ugo — wife and son of Niccolò III d’Este.
And again, at WFFiC April 2025, I was NOMINEE for BEST DRAMA SCRIPT with Girolamo Savonarola & The Trial of Fire.
The script depicts the struggle of the Dominican friar from Ferrara against Lorenzo de’ Medici and Pope Borja. His opposition to the Roman Curia’s libertine ways and the Medici tyranny in Florence led to his hanging and the burning of his body in Signoria Square — 30 years before Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation.
Currently, I’m working on a new project: the 1923 murder of Father Giovanni Minzoni. A complex political case involving three trials, with the main instigator being ITALO BALBO.
The core idea of all my scripts is to recall the forgotten stories and characters of my beloved city, FERRARA.
At the age of 71, with a life full of achievements and satisfactions, I do not want to tarnish my legacy with average or mediocre work.