THE LITTLE I KNEW
Marcella Libonati
When Vittoria is found dead in the bathtub, her death is ruled an accident. But Lea, a small-town lawyer, refuses to believe it and begins investigating.
The real mystery, however, is Vittoria herself: a magnetic, eccentric outsider embraced by the town despite living with Mara, a much younger woman who hides, behind her life as a pharmacist, a past of privilege and excess, a brilliant career and the shadows that made her leave it all behind.
As Lea reconstructs Vittoria’s life, her own begins to unravel. Her husband accuses her of chasing a ghost, while she finds herself envying Vittoria—not her secrets, but the freedom of having them. Over the course of a week, Lea’s memories return transformed, and what Mara suggests as though it were obvious becomes, for Lea, the question: what was there between her and Vittoria?
Screenplay by Marcella Libonati and Stefano Sardo
Marcella Libonati is an Italian director, screenwriter and assistant director who has worked in the film and audiovisual industries for many years. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with some of Italy’s leading directors, including Roberto Andò, Giuseppe Piccioni, Paolo Sorrentino, Roberta Torre, Gianni Di Gregorio, Francesco Munzi and Massimo Venier.
Alongside her work as an assistant director, she has also worked as a casting director, screenwriter and producer, while directing for both theatre and film. She wrote and produced The Show Mas Go On by Rä di Martino, presented at the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori, and directed the segment Viaggio a levante in the collective film A levante, produced by Saietta Film and distributed by Pablo. The Little I knew is her feature-film debut.
Stefano Sardo was born in Bra in 1972 and lives in Rome. He writes for film and television. He co-created the Sky series 1992, 1993 and 1994, as well as the Italian adaptation of In Treatment. His film credits include The Double Hour (directed by Giuseppe Capotondi, in competition at Venice in 2009), The Invisible Boy (Gabriele Salvatores, 2015) and The Champion (Letizia Lamartire, 2021). He also co-created the television series The Lions of Sicily (Disney+, 2023) and The Art of Joy (Sky, 2024), for which he won the David di Donatello Award for Best Screenplay. He made his directorial debut with With Or Without You (2021), followed by Close To Me (2025). In 2015, he founded the production company Nightswim with Ines Vasiljević, where he serves as story editor and producer.
YOU'RE NOT FUNNY
Gianluca Santoni
Written by Gianluca Bernardini, Valentina Gaia, Gianluca Santoni and Stefano Sardo
“If the material is well written, anyone can make people laugh.” This is the wager between Andrea, a young aspiring stand-up comedian, and Diego, the famous comic he writes jokes for.
The unwitting guinea pig is Martina, a young pharmacist he meets on a high-speed train from Milan to Bologna while fleeing a wedding—and a life that has become too responsible. But what happens when the debutante you have so carefully prepared turns out to be a little too good in front of an audience?
On the one hand, you win the bet; on the other, you realise you have been outshone—especially when you were burned the only time you ever took the stage yourself. It becomes all too easy to ruin the love story you have built with Martina, as ambitions and emotions become hopelessly entangled in your mind.
Once the damage is done, only one remedy remains: the humbling experience stand-up comedy demands, standing exposed onstage as only true comedians know how to do. But that is not enough: you still have to find the courage to apologise across the counter of a pharmacy.
Gianluca Bernardini is a screenwriter born in Rome. After serving as Head of Development at the production company Windtales, he co-wrote the sitcoms Camera Café (Mediaset) and Ombrelloni (Rai). In 2014, he joined the writers’ room of 1993 and 1994 (Sky), followed in 2015 by Il Regno (Rai). In recent years, he has expanded his work across television and film. His television credits include Non ci resta che il crimine – La serie (2023), for which he also co-created the story, and Citadel: Diana (2024). In 2026, he co-created Motorvalley, a six-episode series starring Luca Argentero. Among his latest film projects is Dio ride (2026), presented out of competition at the Venice Film Festival.
Valentina Gaia was born in Bra in 1977. She has worked as an actress in theatre, film and television series, including Quiet Chaos, 1992/3/4 and I Liceali. Since 2014, she has performed a play about Temple Grandin for Spazio Asperger Onlus.
After completing the Rai Script course, she began writing for television, including La Squadra and Camera Café. Together with Stefano Sardo, she wrote the story and screenplay for Una Relazione (2021), as well as the novel published by HarperCollins Italia. Together with Nightswim, she founded and organises SCRIPT Fest, a screenwriting festival whose first edition took place in April 2026. As a musician, she has written songs for The Invisible Boy and Everything Can Happen, composed the score for Una Relazione and released the album Picnic To Club (2020).
Gianluca Santoni is a director and screenwriter, born in 1991. He studied directing at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia from 2013 to 2016, where he made the short films Duale, selected for Giffoni, Castellinaria and Corto Dorico, and Gionatan con la G, which won awards at numerous festivals. He went on to direct the web series Genitori vs Figli for Rai Fiction (2015), the short film Indimenticabile (2019) and the documentary YouArt (Bartleby Film for Eni, 2020). His feature-film debut, My Killer Buddy (Nightswim, 2023), won the Sguardo sul futuro Award at Alice nella città, part of the Rome Film Festival. As a writer, he received the Solinas Award for Best Story (2017) and the Rodolfo Sonego Award for Best Screenplay (2021). He has also worked as an assistant director and filmmaker.
Stefano Sardo was born in Bra in 1972 and lives in Rome. He writes for film and television. He co-created the Sky series 1992, 1993 and 1994, as well as the Italian adaptation of In Treatment. His film credits include The Double Hour (directed by Giuseppe Capotondi, in competition at Venice in 2009), The Invisible Boy (Gabriele Salvatores, 2015) and The Champion (Letizia Lamartire, 2021). He also co-created the television series The Lions of Sicily (Disney+, 2023) and The Art of Joy (Sky, 2024), for which he won the David di Donatello Award for Best Screenplay. He made his directorial debut with With Or Without You (2021), followed by Close To Me (2025). In 2015, he founded the production company Nightswim with Ines Vasiljević, where he serves as story editor and producer.
CALL ME CHRIS
Lorenzo Vignolo
Created by Stefano Sardo.
Screenplay by Gianluca Bernardini, Stefano Sardo, Lorenzo Vignolo
Call Me Chris is a story about love and music. A coming-of-age tale about entering adulthood—even for those who have already been adults for some time.
Like Cristiano, known as Chris, who at thirty-seven no longer believes in making a living playing with his band, the Lemmings, and wants to try to build a less frustrating life. Or his older brother Giovanni, who, at forty-five, still refuses to give up the band and sacrifices his life trying to imitate Keith Richards’ excesses without possessing the stamina for them. Then again, who does—apart from Keith?
And finally Alice, the only one who, at nineteen, possesses real talent: that pure, rare gift found once in a million. She is also the only one who truly seems to believe in the dream.
A series about three different generations—people in their twenties, thirties and forties—perpetually searching for their identities, united by one common denominator: a passion for music. Because, as Nietzsche— the philosopher known for demolishing God, inventing the Übermensch and assaulting a horse—once said: “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
Stefano Sardo is born in Bra, in 1972. He lives in Rome, where he writes for Cinema and Television. He is co-creator of the SKY series 1992, 1993 and 1994, as well as of the Italian adaptation of In Treatment. For cinema, he writes, among other works, La Doppia Ora (The Double Hour) (by Giuseppe Capotondi, in competition at the Venice Film Festival, 2009), Il Ragazzo Invisibile (The Invisible Boy) (by Gabriele Salvatores, 2015), Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail) (by Letizia Lamartire, 2021), a movie about soccer ace, Roberto Baggio, for Netflix. Presently, he is working as lead writer and for serial projects such as I Leoni di Sicilia (The Lions of Sicily), for Disney+.
Una relazione (With or without you) marks his direction debut.
Gianluca Bernardini is an Italian screenwriter. He has scripted, among other works, Il legame (The Binding) (2020) by Domenico De Feudis, available on Netflix and La cena perfetta (The Perfect Dinner) (2022) by Davide Minnella.
Lorenzo Vignolo is an Italian director. He directs various publicity campaigns and approx. 150 music videos. He directs, among other projects, the film Workers - Pronti a tutto (Workers - Ready for Anything) (2012) and the pilot episode of Up&Down (2021), produced by Rai Fiction and Premio Solinas.
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