The documentary Miss Italia Must Not Die by Pietro Daviddi and David Gallerano, written by the two directors alongside Gregorio Romeo, is available on Netflix.
Miss Italia, once a prestigious event, has been in deep crisis for years. Patrizia Mirigliani, who inherited the beauty pageant from her father Enzo, is determined to attempt a challenging revival, despite everything seemingly working against her. The documentary retraces the history of Miss Italia and that of Patrizia, following the intricate search for Italy’s most beautiful woman through a narrative that includes regional selections, aspiring contestants, and the patron’s family. Will Patrizia succeed in saving Miss Italia—and, in doing so, herself? Miss Italia Must Not Die is produced by Fremantle and Ring Film.
We asked Emilio M. Costa CCS a few questions:
What were the key aspects of this experience?
The documentary film Miss Italia explores, in the most intimate way possible, a show that has been deeply embedded in our culture for over 70 years and was once a driving force behind all Italian television programmes. The journey we undertook with directors David Gallerano and Pietro Daviddi felt like a trip through time—some aspects of the pageant have evolved with the passing years, but many others remain firmly rooted in the past. I experienced a cross-section of Italian society from north to south: everywhere, the Miss Italia competition was caught in a deep struggle between past and present, tradition and progress—a constant contrast. Thrown into an environment where the setting and the people made me feel as if I were in an ’80s or ’90s Italian TV show, I found myself reflecting precisely on these contrasts.
Did this influence or inspire your cinematographic work?
Yes, I wanted to reflect my experience of this ongoing contrast in the visuals as well, aiming to depict a reality anchored in the past, filled with elements that clash with the modern world we live in. The recurring presence of the Italian tricolour, standing out amidst the chaos of lights and stage designs in Miss Italia across small-town squares, reminded me of my childhood, when my family and I would go to local festivals and immerse ourselves in the folklore. Together with the directors, we decided to adopt an observational shooting style, using only one initial interview, so that the audience could feel as if they were being thrown into the whirlwind world of today’s Miss Italia, guided by characters who draw them into their intimacy.
How did you approach lighting?
I aimed to represent this fairytale-like, somewhat grotesque world, which is also afflicted by a certain emptiness of values. What struck me most was the constant paranoia that torments the patron. I chose to emphasise colour. The people we encountered live and move in environments where colours are often paired according to the complementary rule, or where gold and silver blend with ivory to create a lavish yet hollow, overly theatrical aesthetic. I embraced this excess and crafted a look where colour itself creates contrast, evoking the sensation of being inside a TV reality show. We didn’t use much archive footage, but in some moments, we turned our own footage into “archival material” by transferring it onto DVCAM tape. This was an attempt to convey to the audience the feeling that changing the medium could transport them into the past—as if an old recording format, rather than a modern one, could serve as a bridge between today’s reality and the past.
What equipment did you find most suitable for this type of project?
Deciding on the right equipment for this project wasn’t easy. We needed to be lightweight yet high-performing. I required a setup that would allow me to work in uncontrolled lighting conditions and adapt to all kinds of light sources, especially during Miss Italia events: poor-quality LEDs, tungsten, neon, and sodium street lighting. Additionally, since this was a largely observational film, the equipment had to be unobtrusive—we couldn’t stand out while following people in their private homes, offices, and other personal spaces. At one point, I had three crews filming simultaneously, either in the same location or spread across Italy, with each crew using at least two cameras. I opted for Sony cameras from the FX Cinema Line—versatile, lightweight, modular yet robust, offering excellent dynamic range, high ISO sensitivity, a backlit sensor, and impressive colour reproduction. All cameras were equipped with Angénieux zoom lenses and a Canon CN Zoom 30-300. In some cases, when we needed to create greater emphasis on a specific shot or scene—by introducing distortion or an effect that transported us into a different visual dimension from the primary look—we used Zeiss, Helios, and Nikon anamorphic lenses. Additionally, I incorporated a personal lens from an old projector for unique optical effects.
Thank you, Emilio.
