Antonio and Marco Manetti were born in Rome. They grew up and acquired experiences on the film sets of directors like Marco Bellocchio. Today the two brothers are filmmakers and screenwriters, and have their own production company. Their cinema is one strongly invested in reviving popular, traditional genres, while retaining an independent perspective and vision.
They have directed hundreds of music videos for well-known Italian singers. In 1999, they created the pioneering web series Scums. Their cinema debut came with the horror-comedy Zora la vampira(2000). They directed the very successful TV seriesL’Ispettore Coliandro(2003–2017). In 2005, they made the small-budget thriller Piano 17 – set mostly in an elevator. Their most acclaimed films are Song’e Napule (2013) and Ammore e malavita (2017), both set in Naples and made in 2010. Recently, they’ve directed a trilogy based on a comic book series: Diabolik (2020), Diabolik – Ginko all’attacco! (2022) and Diabolik – chi sei? (2023).
In this Talk, the Manetti Bros. will discuss their trajectory in cinema to date and contextualise their work in relation to an Italian popular cinema on the verge of disappearance. They will also review the ways in which they have brought a street flair to traditional genre filmmaking.
