What drove you to tell the story of a prisoner confronting her torturer? How did you work to transform this story into a universal allegory of resistance against oppression?

Non Obbedire was written after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
It had been a long time since we’d seen a conflict in Europe, and I felt the need to say something—not just about this war, but about all wars in which tyrants use violence and commit atrocities against the weak.
While developing the idea and structure of my story, I deliberately chose not to fully embrace the tools of realism. I followed this same approach in the construction of the dialogue, the actors’ accents, the costumes, and the set design—avoiding any explicit references to nationality or political figures—in order to deliver a message that could be as universal as possible.

How did you direct the actors to convey the psychological tension and the protagonist’s courage?

The actors are theater actors, precisely because the scenic setup is purely theatrical. Since this is an “allegory” and not a “real” story, I needed performers capable of making the audience imagine.
Beyond that, the protagonist, Miriam Podgornik, made the character credible by managing to create empathy with the viewer. Together, we built a warrior woman, a fighter with great inner strength, capable of resisting until her last breath.

What artistic, historical, or personal references influenced the making of the film?

From a dramaturgical standpoint, the most relevant reference is undoubtedly the theater of Harold Pinter. For the atmosphere of the film, I was influenced by Siberian Education by Gabriele Salvatores.
As for the content, I drew inspiration from various monologues by Roberto Saviano, in which he talks about the intertwining of politics and organized crime.

What message do you hope the audience will take away from this story of resistance and the search for freedom?

My film is a portrait of the arrogance of power in action, with its consequences always falling on the weakest.
When I started working on it, my gaze was also turned to the past—to old dictatorships, ancient stories, even very ancient ones—power, after all, is always the same.
But I never imagined I would end up reflecting a cruel and bloody future that, unfortunately, has become our tragic and ruthless present.
Yet Non Obbedire is above all a story of hope.
Hope is action, disobedience, rebellion, a stubborn search for a better future.

Have you ever considered developing this story into a feature film? If so, how would you envision the evolution of the story in a longer format?

A feature film could be an interesting possibility, but it might require a different approach.
Rather, I see this story working well as a series focused on themes of freedom, injustice, and the fight for peace.

THE AUTHOR

Name: Alessandro D’Onghia
Film: Non Obbedire

Still from the film

Still from the film