Riccardo Romano
Writing
Biography
Riccardo Romano (b. 1989) is an Italian filmmaker and screenwriter passionate about crafting compelling, character-driven stories. Working across Europe, he honed his skills with a Master's in Scriptwriting from IULM University in Milan, followed by further training at the Holden School in Turin and the National School of Independent Cinema in Florence. Since 2018, Romano has been writing and directing no-budget short films, several of which achieved success on the festival circuit and were later acquired by international platforms such as WeShort, Sofytv, and Argo. As a screenwriter, he is best known for his collaboration with Bulgarian director Viktor Ivanov on the 2022 festival favorite "Vuja De". Shot in Paris and starring Filippo Scotti, the film earned selections in prestigious festivals, including Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (USA), Nòt Film Festival (Italy), PriFest (Kosovo), Oaxaca FilmFest (Mexico), and Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (Spain). Romano is also a co-writer of Ivanov's debut feature film, set to premiere in 2025. As a director, Romano has progressed from micro-budget productions to funded projects, including his upcoming horror-drama short "(le) Vampire", supported by Nuovo IMAIE and slated for a 2025 release. In 2024, Romano also appeared in the cast of the Lithuanian filmmaker Saule Bliuvaite's debut feature, "Toxic", which won the Golden Leopard at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.
Known For
Dreaming of an escape from the bleakness of their hometown, two teens form a unique bond at a local modeling school, where the promise of a better life pushes girls to violate their bodies in increasingly extreme ways.
Toxic
A love story about destiny. A destiny story about love.
Kismet
Three little girls open a lemonade stand, but in the grown-up world is never easy to do something simple.
Lemonade and the Immortality of Soul
Forced by the parents to be married, a young couple in Paris discover things about themselves as they mature through their romance together.
Vuja de
Set in the near future, it is the story of a woman who wakes up in an abandoned warehouse. A man who works with her says he saved her from a toxic cloud. A hundred hours of forced quarantine await them.
A Hundred Hours
A researcher willing to push beyond the limits of law and morality may have paved the way to find a cure for a deadly pandemic.
Taoat
After death, life could be still bad. What would you be willing to do to reach paradise?
Eden Hotel
Neno is a problematic guy, who's looking for new forms. New forms is what he needs to survive his life.
Neno Who Killed His Father
When the heir to the mosquito repellent empire discovers he is dying, he announces a plan for the end of the world. The Russian stepsister puts a bounty on his head: three would-be assassins compete for the money, in a race against time.
Carro, ferro, farro
A vignette in which two friends, both actresses, meet in a bar to have a nice time together. They are not very nice though.
Decaf & Cigarettes
On the phone with a rich man whose son he has kidnapped, with whom he hasn't had contact for fifteen years, the kidnapper gives him the chance to save his son's life and rebuild their relationship.
Valvonauta
A short story about isolation and depression, mixed with a fake documentary interview.
Locus Amoenus
A lesbian nun in Sicily decides to follow her own moral compass, beyond the restraints of a conservative church and society.
Ritornare
The identity crisis of a screenwriter, lost between completing functional and salable stories, or giving free rein to the most creative and intuitive part of himself: his personal demon.
Kunstwollen
No description available.
Margherita. La voce delle stelle
A man is facing a dark situation he tried to escape a long time before.
Headlights
An unexpected visit from an old pen pal disrupts the life of a young couple.