Domenico Procacci, the founder of independent production company Fandango, has announced anew project called Diaz. It will be based on the police raids at Diaz School during the anti-globalisation protests at the G8 summit in Genoa 2001.

A Fandango spokesperson confirmed the project, which is currently at the scripting stage. Daniele Vicari (The Past Is A Foreign Land, Velocita Massima) is attached to direct and will also co-script the project with Laura Paolucci (Quiet Chaos).

According to reports, Procacci decided to make the film following the success of Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah and Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo, which have led a return to socially conscious cinema in Italy.

He said the film would be international, shot in several languages to reflect the reality of the G8 event. The project will rely on archive shots only to represent the night of July 21.

The raids on the Diaz school, which were being used as lodgings by protesters and independent media, saw 150 police storm the building while people slept. They made 93 arrests, with 29 of those later hospitalised. 

Procacci claims his film will not be “anti police” and that he is trying to get Italian Police Chief Antonio Manganelli to collaborate on the project. British journalist Mark Covell, who sustained severe injuries and was unconscious for 14 hours after the attack, will provide testimony.

In November 2008, high-level police officers were cleared of all charges that they ‘masterminded’ the raid, while junior officers were sentenced but did not serve jail time.

Procacci says he is also planning a separate film about a young Italian protestor, Carlo Giuliani, who was killed during the same G8 violence, a day earlier, on July 20, although he did not give futher details.

Fandango’s production slate currently includes Gabriele Muccino’s new Italian project Bacami Ancora (Kiss Me Again), which will kick off in June, and Ferzan Ozpetek’s new film Mina Vaganti.

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