The author of Gomorrah (2007) will make its film debut with the adaptation of its graphic novel I’m still alive.
In 2021, Roberto Saviano recounted his life in the graphic novel I am still alive. Always placed under police surveillance, the Italian writer will adapt this autobiographical story to the cinema, in the form of an animated film. Written with Neapolitan artist Alessandro Rak, the script for the feature film will be presented this week at the Cartoon Movie pitching forum in Bordeaux. ” This is the story of a 26-year-old young man, sentenced to death by a criminal organization, a boy who grew up in a land where the Mafia killed 4000 people in a few years. said Roberto Saviano about his film. To illustrate his story, the author had at the time appealed to Asa Hanuka, responsible for certain sequences on the animated film Waltz with Bashir in 2008.
A life shattered by the Mafia
Born in 1979 in Naples, Roberto Saviano became a journalist and collaborated with several left-wing Italian newspapers. In 2006, his investigative book Gomorrah (Gallimard) is a blast that attacks the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, head-on. In his book, Saviano reveals a large amount of information on the criminal organization, between trafficking and public executions. His greatest success nevertheless signs his death warrant, the writer being immediately threatened with assassination and placed under police protection some time after the release of the book. His life is told in I’m still alivethe author still continuing to denounce Italian crime syndicates.
Translated into nearly 42 languages, Gomorrah was first adapted to the theater, then to the cinema by Matthew Garrone in 2008. Completed in 2021, the series Gomorrah is also adapted from Saviano’s book and has met with great success throughout its five seasons.