Nicola Calipari’s codename, Il Nibbio, provides the title to Alessandro Tonda’s film, written by Sandro Petraglia. The high-ranking SISMI official (Claudio Santamaria) was killed by ‘friendly fire’ from American troops in Baghdad on March 4, 2005 while shielding “Il Manifesto” journalist Giuliana Sgrena (Sonia Bergamasco) with his body; she had just been freed after 28 days of captivity. The film recounts Calipari’s delicate negotiation with the kidnappers and preserves the nature and ethics of a man whose murder remains without a culprit.
Locations in Rome feature glimpses of the real places where the events would have taken place. These include the exteriors of forte Braschi, in the Trionfale neighbourhood, which then housed the operations centre of the Sismi - Military Information and Security Service; of Palazzo Chigi, seat of the Italian Government, in piazza Colonna; and the headquarters of the Police in Rome, where a meeting with the Digos takes place. The scenes set in Baghdad and Dubai were filmed in Morocco.
Nicola Calipari’s codename, Il Nibbio, provides the title to Alessandro Tonda’s film, written by Sandro Petraglia. The high-ranking SISMI official (Claudio Santamaria) was killed by ‘friendly fire’ from American troops in Baghdad on March 4, 2005 while shielding “Il Manifesto” journalist Giuliana Sgrena (Sonia Bergamasco) with his body; she had just been freed after 28 days of captivity. The film recounts Calipari’s delicate negotiation with the kidnappers and preserves the nature and ethics of a man whose murder remains without a culprit.
Locations in Rome feature glimpses of the real places where the events would have taken place. These include the exteriors of forte Braschi, in the Trionfale neighbourhood, which then housed the operations centre of the Sismi - Military Information and Security Service; of Palazzo Chigi, seat of the Italian Government, in piazza Colonna; and the headquarters of the Police in Rome, where a meeting with the Digos takes place. The scenes set in Baghdad and Dubai were filmed in Morocco.
Il Nibbio is about the twenty-eight days preceding the tragic events of March 4, 2005, when Nicola Calipari, a high-ranking SISMI official, sacrificed his life to save “Il Manifesto” journalist Giuliana Sgrena who had been kidnapped in Iraq by a terrorist cell. The film intertwines action and humanity, remembering a man who put everything on the line for the value of life. His murder is still unsolved.
