The story follows 15-year-old Nicola and his group of friends living in the Sanità neighborhood of Naples.
The film won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.
"La paranza dei bambini" (released in English as Piranhas ) is a powerful exploration of the "baby gangs" of Naples, Italy. Originally a 2016 novel by Roberto Saviano, the writer behind Gomorrah , it was adapted into an award-winning film in 2019 directed by Claudio Giovannesi. Core Narrative
Director Claudio Giovannesi used non-professional actors from Naples to give the film a sense of "freshness and nativity".
They begin as small-time drug dealers but quickly graduate to bartering for heavy firearms like AK-47s to muscle into the territory of established Camorra clans.
Set against a gritty, un-stylized Naples, it highlights how crime often feels like the only "logical" path to success in underserved communities. Critical Reception & Production
The film portrays a generation of adolescents who treat gun warfare with the same casualness as playing video games.
Seeking to escape poverty and the "protection money" taxes levied on their families' small businesses, the boys choose a life of crime.
Bambini - La Paranza Dei
The story follows 15-year-old Nicola and his group of friends living in the Sanità neighborhood of Naples.
The film won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.
"La paranza dei bambini" (released in English as Piranhas ) is a powerful exploration of the "baby gangs" of Naples, Italy. Originally a 2016 novel by Roberto Saviano, the writer behind Gomorrah , it was adapted into an award-winning film in 2019 directed by Claudio Giovannesi. Core Narrative
Director Claudio Giovannesi used non-professional actors from Naples to give the film a sense of "freshness and nativity".
They begin as small-time drug dealers but quickly graduate to bartering for heavy firearms like AK-47s to muscle into the territory of established Camorra clans.
Set against a gritty, un-stylized Naples, it highlights how crime often feels like the only "logical" path to success in underserved communities. Critical Reception & Production
The film portrays a generation of adolescents who treat gun warfare with the same casualness as playing video games.
Seeking to escape poverty and the "protection money" taxes levied on their families' small businesses, the boys choose a life of crime.
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