documentary by Luciano Toriello
On 14 March 1998, in Castelluccio dei Sauri, three nineteen-year-old girls – Anna Maria, Mariena and Nadia – meet to prepare for their high school final exams. That very afternoon, Nadia is brutally strangled. Put under intense pressure by investigators, her two best friends confess to being guilty during their very first interrogation.
Amid satanic and esoteric leads, staged fake suicides, attempted poisonings and extorted letters, a faded trip to the United States and the ambiguity of the relationships between the victim and her perpetrators, investigators delve into murky waters in search of the seed of such evil. Meanwhile, at the centre of morbid media attention, an entire community plunges into dismay, while the destinies of three respectable families are shattered forever. The documentary delves into the murky depths of a broken bond, exploring the psychological ambiguity of a heinous crime committed within the monotonous daily life of the Apilian province.
Migliori amiche - Il caso Nadia Roccia (Best Friends - The Nadia Roccia Case), the true crime docufilm directed by Luciano Toriello, reconstructs what happened based on unique and unrepeatable video documents, retracing the trial proceedings that saw an initial life sentence overturned into a final plea bargain of 21 years.
An HGV Italia production in collaboration with Seminal Film; distributed by NightSwim and Seminal Film.