Francesco Costabile is presenting his first feature film, Una femmina – The Code of Silence [+lee también:
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entrevista: Francesco Costabile
ficha de la película], in the Panorama section of the 72nd Berlinale. In an interview with Cineuropa, the Italian director explained how he developed the concept for this film which revolves around the first women to stand up for themselves against 'Ndrangheta, and how he unearthed the young actress who plays the lead role.

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Cineuropa: What made you choose this story for your first feature film?
Francesco Costabile: It was suggested to me that I should work on Lirio Abbate’s book, and I immediately accepted the offer. I’m Calabrian and I come from the region explored in the film. I sensed that it was an opportunity and a real responsibility to be able to talk about a downtrodden universe, downtrodden from a film perspective, too. I was interested in the female viewpoint and in talking about these downtrodden women who tried to rebel. As I worked on the film, I realised that this story also coincided with my own experience. Because the film is based on a subject specifically associated with a particular geographic area, but it’s also a universal film about the self-determination of women in the face of violence meted out by other women. And it’s a film about women’s attempts to free themselves from the self-same patriarchal models which have also left their mark on me, in a certain sense.

How did you adapt the text into a film? Did you carry out any specific research?
The book isn’t a novel, it’s an investigative text containing a series of stories. The human material within it is incredibly vast. We needed to synthesise it and lend form to various voices and women, basing our efforts on the experiences these first women had had when they rebelled against the mafia. I also added depth to Abbate’s material after reading about the different court cases. One testimony which proved key to writing the main character, Rosa, was Denise Cosco’s. She was a victim of 'Ndrangheta, and the daughter of Lea Garofalo who disappeared without a trace at their hands. Another crucial figure was Enza Rando, a lawyer who was in charge of these women’s testimonies.

You chose to exclude anything pertaining to the other side of the mountains, outside of the country.
These women’s stories are intrinsically linked to profound isolation; they’re women who grow up in highly peripheral family and cultural contexts where the psychological prison they’re living in feels very real. So much so that many of these women first started rebelling and emancipating themselves via the internet and social media. 'Ndrangheta thrives on an archetypal family structure and cultural context which needs to be kept as isolated as possible; culture shouldn’t be able to reach it.

How did you find Lina Siciliano, who plays Rosa?
I met her in a family home. Straight away, I carried out my research in tricky social environments, taking a lengthy detour through the more at-risk areas. I felt it was necessary to have someone with considerable life experience for this role, a past which might correlate with these women’s experiences. This truth seemed essential. Lina has a very complex past, and we worked on her life experience together, in order to lend a degree of authenticity to the story.

Your movie doesn’t only explore power relations between men and women. Rosa’s grandma is in a position to help change things, but she chooses not to.
The structure of the mafia revolves around the role of women; women as an educative force. Often, the men die young and these great mothers - powerful women - take their place. They’re women in the service of human beings who are tasked with passing on traditions. They, too, are victims of patriarchal structures, yet they become the mafia’s principal leaders. And women are the only ones who can definitively upend this system, by working together.

What did you feel was essential to the film’s aesthetic concept?
It’s a daring film in imaginative terms; it’s not meant to be a pure, realist documentary. It’s a film which plays with film genres and it’s a very fine balance between a thriller, a melodrama and a psychological horror. The film’s light and sound create certain nuances. It’s all aimed at capturing viewers’ imaginations. It’s important to me that audiences watch the film in movie theatres, because real film experiences can only take place in cinemas, with the lights out.