PIOMBO is a series that will blend the pulpy sensibili1es, cinema1c choices, and mood capture of polizio&eschi, the Italian crime films of the 70s and 80s, with a sublimated desire for radical change all too familiar to us today. Our story plunges into a near-future-adjacent Italy fashioned out of the same enduring and violent forces we see rippling through various corners of today’s world… But in Italy, it harks back to a bloody and tribalis1c period from the country’s past. As our series opens, Italy has found itself back where it was in the 70s and 80s — society is just about to reach its 3pping point — just one kidnapping, one bombing, away from intractable anarchy. It’s an Italy caught in the crossfire of leH-wing insurgents and a far-right, possibly neo-fascist, government. An Italy steeped in fear and instability… and precariously balancing amongst the urban decay, moral rot, ins1tu1onal failure and a pervasive feeling of powerlessness. The north calls for separa1on, while port ci1es struggle against a surfeit of illegal immigra1on from Africa and Albania, which public resources are ill-equipped to handle. Law enforcement cannot be trusted. Crime is rampant. Local officials are hopelessly incompetent at figh1ng the new criminal class. Paramilitary groups and local hooliganism are on the rise… and in the vacuum of true government, it’s these guys running the soup kitchens. Because whether it’s religion, mafia, or government – they’ve all failed in their duty of care. 

Written by

Tony Saint