Piperplay Boards Sales & Unveils Trailer For Venice & TIFF-Bound True Crime Drama ‘The City Of The Living’

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.

Watch as Luca, a 23-year-old young man, navigates his life with his family and friends, and shares a young yet deeply significant love with his girlfriend. However, Luca leads a double life, and one night, following a seemingly chance encounter, the trajectory of his life is shattered 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.