What was perverse about it was that it was in war, and that war gave me a sense of belonging

Finding a screenwriter for the project was the most difficult part: “Writers were afraid to take it on.”

“Though it’s a remake, it’s probably my most personal project.”

“I was a lonely boy in Palermo, a megalomaniac and dreaming of building worlds through cinema.

“Being told you’re bad is painful. But ultimately, that’s kind of what I needed to just stop going the way I was going.”