Il Film di Mario

It's Christmas. Mario, a forty-year-old unemployed grandfather who lives by his wits but has an equally chronic dream of becoming an actor, is hired as a caretaker (sixteen hours a day) of a grotesque nativity scene set up on the main street of Bari by a photographer who uses it as a backdrop for photographing children. For us, it's a great opportunity to make a documentary about him... But for Mario, too, we are an excellent opportunity to make his film, the dream he had in his drawer, the film about his life: we are his crew and he is the director! The result is a constant battle: between us, who want moments of the real Mario, the cheerful and optimistic one despite the objective difficulties of his existence, and him, who proposes a tragic but partial Mario, convinced that by loading his testimony with suffering and melodrama, the story of his life will have more appeal...

Directed by Agostino Ferrente, Giovanni Piperno, Il Film di Mario leans on a strong ensemble — Agostino Ferrente, Mario, Nico Cirasola — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 1999.