Giovanni Tortorici on How Luca Guadagnino Shepherded His Debut

Young Italian director Giovanni Tortorici, who is 28, studied ancient Italian literature before realizing that filmmaking was his real calling. Shortly thereafter he intersected with fellow Sicilian Luca Guadagnino, an encounter that marked the start of a collaboration more enriching for Tortorici than anything he could learn in film school.

Guadagnino has produced Tortorici’s debut feature, “Diciannove,” which means “Nineteen” in Italian and is now launching from the Venice Film Festival‘s Horizons section and the Toronto Film Festival’s Discovery program.

In this coming-of-age drama, set in 2015, 19-year-old Leonardo leaves his sun-drenched hometown of Palermo and moves to London to join his sister and study business. But soon his initial enthusiasm wares off and Leonardo impulsively transfers to the historic city of Siena to immerse himself in the world of ancient Italian literature, triggering a period of deep self-discovery.

Tortorici spoke to Variety about how “Diciannove” stems from his personal life and how Guadagnino was crucial to him being able to bring his vision to the big screen.

I’ve read that this is a somewhat autobiographical work, so tell me a little about yourself

I was born in Palermo, Sicily. When I was 18 I moved to England because, just like in the movie, I planned to study business. Then I changed my mind – again, just like the movie – and I went to Siena to study literature because I was very passionate about literature. So my very first formative period [as an artist] was all about literature. Then at a certain point, I started to think that I wanted to tell stories with cinema, with images. So I left the literature university and I went to a film school in Turin. But I wasn’t very happy about this school. Then after a couple of years I started working with Luca Guadagnino. I worked on “We Are Who We Are” with him, as an assistant director, and then I did the behind-the-scenes of “Bones and All.” Then I wrote the script for “Nineteen” and I showed it to Luca who was very happy to produce it. And now here we are.

Talk to me about your passion for ancient Italian literature, which I think is the same as Leonardo’s

Yes, the film is very autobiographical in this aspect. I was not a very good student in high school. I had very bad grades. But at a certain point when I was 17 with the help of a private teacher I was introduced to literature. And I became very passionate about it. I was reading modern European and Western literature, like Proust and Virginia Woolf and Aldous Huxley, Balzac, these Western classics. Then at a certain point, I remember I found this book of essays about the history of literature by the 18th century writer Giuseppe Parini. It started from the very beginning, and I remember seeing all these names that I had never heard of. And I started reading them. I remember feeling kind of special because I was reading all these writers that no one has ever heard of. In hindsight I think there was also a bit of ego trip involved.

Tell me more about how Luca Guadagnino helped bring “Diciannove” to the screen

Yes, so after working with Luca as an assistant on “We Are Who We Are” over the years we developed a very close relationship and talked a lot about cinema, the arts, et cetera. I think this was crucial for me in transitioning from literature to cinema, because I was always analyzing movies the same way you look at literature, and obviously that was not accurate. So Luca helped me to develop a more cinematic vision.

He introduced me to cinema, I have to say. So after working with him, I showed him the script. And I remember from the first draft that I gave him, he said: “Oh my God, I loved it. I would love to produce it!” And he’s a very practical person, so he did what he said and he produced the movie. For me, it’s been of fundamental importance during the preparation and the filming process because he was very aware of the problems that sometimes can occur between a director and producers such as if you shoot in a certain location you get incentives, etc.

Luca protected me by allowing me to make decisions based on my sensitivity. He was always like: “Do what you like. Don’t compromise, because when you make compromises, you ruin your movie.” That was incredibly emboldening.

What’s on the horizon?

I’ve already written another script and I’m prepping a new movie. I showed it to some producers, including Luca and some financiers, and they are happy about it.

What’s your next project about?

It’s about two 16-year-old kids from different social classes in Palermo. But it’s a lot less about books and literature and intellectual things than “Diciannove.” Instead, it depicts a lot of the social life at that age that is a bit dumb and extreme. I think it’s going to be lots of fun to shoot because it has girls, and booze, and drugs, and soccer and fun music.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.