BILLI THE COWBOY

BILLI IL COWBOY

Director Fede Gianni
Cast Delia Enea, Barbara Chichiarelli, Lorenzo Romanazzi, Luca Di Prospero
Screenplay Giulia Cosentino e Fede Gianni
Cinematography Clarissa Cappellani
Editing Chiara Dainese
Screenplay Ilaria Sadun
Costumes Olivia Bellini
Music Vittorio Giampietro e Mick Dimitri
Casting director Sara Casani
Sound Roberto Sestito
Sound editing Federico Tummolo
VFX Emiliano Leone

Produced by Giovanni Pompili and Lara Costa Calzado
A production Kino produzioni
In collaboration with Rai Cinema, MiC - Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, Regione Lazio
Distribution Premiere Film, Rai Cinema Channel

Year 2024
Country Italy
Film run 15’

synopsis

It is the late 1960s and dozens of Westerns are being filmed in the Roman countryside. Billi is 12 years old, rides horses and dreams of being a cowboy. When a casting director appears, looking for young stunts, Billi feels that this is his big chance. His family, however, thinks otherwise.

biography

Fede Gianni is a trans screenwriter and director. His short films have screened at numerous international film festivals and have received awards from the Director's Guild of America, Vimeo and The Gotham. His feature projects have received support from Torino Film Lab, IFP Week, Oxbelly Lab and SFFILM RAIN GRANT. Gianni holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University. He is a lecturer in film at John Cabot University in Rome and New York University in Florence.

director’s notes

The film explores a specific moment in our lives, the end of childhood. Growing up for most children means leaving some things behind and gaining others, but for Billi the stakes are higher: she risks leaving behind her true identity. Outside the combination of conformity and rebellion, I wanted to show something new in the film, the power of a free spirit and its self-determination.