EXCLUSIVE: Piperplay has boarded sales on Edoardo Gabbriellini’s true crime drama The City of the Living (La città dei vivi) ahead of its world premiere in Venice’s Orizzonti competition and North American debut in Toronto’s Centrepiece, and also unveiled the trailer.
The feature is freely inspired by Italian writer Nicola Lagioia’s award-winning, best-selling true-crime work delving into the circumstances around the senseless and sadistic murder of a much-loved young man in 2016 that shocked Rome and the wider world.
Gabbriellini’s film frames the events from a tender and poetic perspective rather than reconstructing the crime, to shift the focus to its origins, exploring the human, cultural and emotional dynamics behind it.
The synopsis reads: “Luca is twenty-three years old. He lives with the family that adopted him and loves him. He moves between the suburbs and the city center with his friends and has a girlfriend with whom he shares a young yet deeply significant love. Luca is searching for his path—at an age when everything seems both possible and already lost—and in this quest, he leads a double life. One night, following a seemingly chance encounter, the trajectory of Luca’s life is shattered, broken by an act of blind, senseless violence.”
In his first starring role, rising young actor Emanuele Maria di Stefano plays Luca with the cast also featuring Gaia Merlonghi, Simona Senzacqua, Roberta Mattei, and Valerio Mastandrea (There’s Still Tomorrow).
Director and actor Gabbriellini previously played in Toronto’s Centrepiece sidebar with last film Holiday, which also revolved around the fallout and human consequences of a crime. One of the producers on the film was Luca Guadagnino. Gabbriellini had previously starred in Guadagnino’s I am Love, as well as served as second-unit director on Guadagnino’s TV miniseries We Are What We Are.
The City Of The Living is produced by Eagle Pictures, Cinemaundici and Lungtafilm with the participation of HBO Max. Top distributor Eagle Pictures, which also handles Paramount and Sony Pictures releases in Italy, will bring the film to Italian cinemas.
Rome-based Piperplay is a joint venture formed in 2025 between Italian production and distribution powerhouse PiperFilm and Playtime, within the Vuelta Group.
Its summer and fall festival slate also includes Locarno International Competition title Ketticè by Giovanni Tortotici, the Venice Orizzonti Competition title Children of the Monkey and Venice’s closing film God Laughs (Dio Ride) by Giovanni Veronesi.
