by Michele Diomà
I saw Amarcord when I was 10 years old. I didn’t know who Federico Fellini was—I had never even heard his name—but after watching that snow, that world of marvelous suburban misfits, and that circus-like music by Nino Rota, I realized that my life would one day have a deep connection with that thing.
Amarcord brought me home—spiritually, I mean. A door opened within me, one I stepped through, and that journey has led me here today, speaking to the world’s largest community of indie film producers.
WILD FILMMAKER exists because over 30 years ago, a child fell in love with Amarcord.
Over the years, I’ve explored every aspect of Federico Fellini’s filmography, and even now, the thought of his cinema brings me joy. I can now project Fellini’s films in my mind—I have a kind of movie theater inside me.
My heart is the projector, and my brain is the screen.
I’m sharing this story with you because today WILD FILMMAKER is interviewing Corrado Monina, a young director who is working on a film and a series dedicated to Gustavo Adolfo Rol—a man who deeply fascinated Federico Fellini.
Who is Rol? To me, he is someone who confirmed my belief in the multiplicity of dimensions.
I also deeply admire Rol’s ideal of one day creating the United States of the World.
–) Corrado, in your opinion, who was Gustavo Adolfo Rol?
Rol was a cultured man endowed with great sensitivity, who at a certain point experienced a powerful spiritual awakening. Some, due to lack of complete information, define him as a psychic or a medium; others, in bad faith, describe him as a magician. But in reality, his story aligns with the millennia-old tradition found in the history of Eastern religions.
In accordance with this tradition, we can also speak of Rol in the present tense, because a man who has reached such spiritual heights remains active on this plane of reality even after physical death.
–) How did the idea of making film projects about Rol come about?
I’ve been passionate about esotericism since high school. When I discovered Rol’s story, I immediately began to explore it in depth, and today synchronicity has led me to debut in film with a project about him.
The decisive factor was meeting Franco Rol, his main biographer, who collected hundreds of testimonies and classified and explained Gustavo’s “possibilities.” Franco’s extraordinary work inspired me to tell the story of this remarkable man—still largely unknown to the general public—who influenced 20th-century culture and politics.
Together with producer Alberto De Venezia, I decided to create both a docufilm and a TV series in order to include as much of the immense available material as possible. I’ve selected over twenty eyewitnesses who have never before appeared in any audiovisual format, thanks in part to the help of Loredana Roberti, a woman who, along with Franco, is dedicated to preserving these testimonies.
–) Rol was a source of inspiration and a spiritual father to Federico Fellini. Will your film and the series you’re preparing have any connection to the filmography of the Poet of Rimini?
Fellini is my most important point of reference as a filmmaker, and I consider him the greatest director of all time. His complete artistic freedom and his ability to turn cinema into a lucid dream are a huge inspiration to me.
Another point of connection is our shared passion for the invisible world and the desire to portray it in film. Inevitably, these projects—and my entire career—will be influenced by a giant like Fellini. But in this case, I particularly drew from his dreamlike fiction, especially in the sequences where I portray a young, never-before-seen Rol in his daily life with his mother, played by the young actress Adele Citro.
Fellini’s special bond with Rol is also an opportunity to reveal completely unpublished information about him, through eyewitness accounts and letters that Fellini and Rol exchanged regularly.
I still have to finish shooting in Turin and I can’t wait to show you the first edited images. A teaser trailer with original music by international composer Henoel Grech will be released soon.
–) Tell us specifically about the projects you’re currently working on.
I recently completed the screenplay for a medieval thriller with an esoteric background, also set in Turin. In September, I’ll be shooting a short film set on the Amalfi Coast.
I’m originally from Salerno, and the sea is a great source of inspiration for me—an irresistible call that also led me to write another feature film set in southern Italy. But for now, I want to focus on this exciting debut project, which is set to be released in 2026.
–) What’s your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
I consider Wild Filmmaker one of the most important realities in international cinema—a unique space where emerging and established artists are treated with the same respect.
I’m honored to have shared my story in a platform with global resonance that supports cinema and fully represents the creative freedom that made me fall in love with it.
