Tomo Library situated in 4, Via degli Etruschi, San Lorenzo Quarter, Rome, will host the screening of the Deviance Trilogy by Gianfranco Tomei. The screening Is scheduled for March, 20th, at 6.30 pm.
The most recent femicides and acts of violence committed by young people make us think that deviance is born among adolescents and younger ones as a reaction to a reality they can’t cope with. We discuss this with Gianfranco Tomei, university professor of psychology, coach, and film director. His Deviance Trilogy, which starts a quarter of a century ago and ends in 2026, seems to faithfully capture what’s happening to propose solutions…
Gianfranco, how was the Deviance Trilogy born, a work spread over such a long period?
The first short film, “Night in the City”, was born from a 20-page script for an Italian horror comic, it was an episodic story inspired by the success of Dylan Dog (it was in the 90s). I kept the script and in 2000 decided to make it into a short film. I’ve always dealt with violence and deviance in my subsequent university research. So, I shot the other two shorts following the same line.
Is it true that your Trilogy also refers to the Epstein files?
There are no direct references, before these things weren’t known or were just hinted at. In the third short, the one about deviated Freemasonry, something is hinted at or at least intuited.
You’re an expert in psychology and youth deviance. Tell us about the dangers of youth from the point of view of mental and psychophysical stability.
It’s obvious to blame modernity (smartphones, the web, etc.) and that’s partly true. But deviance has always existed: in the 90s it was a reaction to social status and standards that couldn’t be emulated, and even today many violent young people are reacting to a society that imposes unattainable models that many can’t cope with and react with frustration. Violence is often exhibited frustration.
We live in an era where children and adolescents never grow up. In your opinion, is this a virtue or a defect of modern society?
Peter Pan syndrome is typical of our times. Sixty-year-olds who focus on fitness and their body like twenty-year-olds, who flirt with barely adult women (or men), who can’t live their age wisely. This tells us that the sense of limits has lost value, the no-limits culture pervades everything. Then, the limit arrives with force and many aren’t prepared.
You’re also a creative: novelist, essayist, director. What necessity do you feel in the creative field: does a child’s or adolescent’s mind really help create stories and art?
The artist is always a bit of a child, think of Fellini, Spielberg, many singer-songwriters. But when this childlike gaze mixes with mature and rational sensitivity, the artistic results can be remarkable.
What are the peculiarities of the Deviance Trilogy that strike audiences of different age groups?
In this Trilogy, there’s still a bit of a naive me (I wrote the first short in ’94 and shot it in 2000, I was just over 20). The others are more recent. Various sensitivities mix.
What unites the three films of the Trilogy and what distinguishes each of these cinematic works?
The first two shorts are stories of metropolitan violence, violence committed by young people. In the third short, we delve into a more subtle violence, that of bourgeois salons, deviated Freemasonry, sects, which can have the same nefarious influence on any social class, if only by emulation and collateral effects.
How is the Deviance Trilogy being received? How has Freemasonry taken it (if you have any feedback)?
The audience is interested and curious. About Freemasonry, I have some knowledge in these circles, absolutely regular and legal Freemasonry, but I haven’t had any feedback yet, maybe they’re a bit embarrassed (laughs).
What’s the development of the Deviance Trilogy in your subsequent works: in theater, cinema, narrative, and essays?
I’m currently writing an academic essay on Deviance. I’ll try to get the qualification as full professor with this. Many themes from the shorts will be in the essay, which will have a scientific and less spectacular approach.
We wish Gianfranco Tomei inspiration for writing the essay and invite our readers to watch the Deviance Trilogy which will be screened on March, 20th, at 6.30 pm at Tomo Library at 4, Via Degli Etruschi, San Lorenzo, Rome.
Olga Matsyna
