"I've never been so good at talking about myself, maybe that's also why I started writing songs".
It is one of the first reflections we hear from the winning singer-songwriter of two San Remo (in 2019 with 'Soldi', and, paired with Blanco, in 2022 with 'Broglie') in 'Mahmood', the docufilm / portrait of Giorgio Testi, who makes its debut at the Rome Film Festival in Alice nella città and then arrives in theaters in an event release from 17 to 19 October with Nexo and from 15 November on Prime video.
A journey that on the leitmotif of Mahmood's Italian and European tour, from the Bataclan in Paris to the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in London or the Sala but in Madrid, passing through Alcatraz in Milan or Eurovision, launches glances, also using the '2d animation, family films, testimonials from friends,
family and colleagues, from Carmen Consoli to Blanco and Dardust, on the human, personal (without touching the sentimental sphere), and artistic path of Alessandro Mahmoud, born in 1992. In particular, we focus on the importance of the figure of the Sardinian mother Anna di Orosei, a fixed point in his life ("he always showed himself as a happy child, I later discovered that he expressed his discomfort in songs", he explains);
the complicated relationship with his Egyptian father Ahmed (also told in one of his iconic songs, 'Money'), the frailties, the professional disappointments (such as the elimination of X factor in 2012), difficult moments, even recent ones, like his house destroyed in the fire of the Torre dei Moro in Milan in 2021;
the ability to seize new opportunities and the relationship with success, "which is not
has changed - says a friend of hers - indeed, it has made him more empathetic ". When you decide" to make a docufilm about your life and your path you have to be honest and also tell things a little more uncomfortable, as I did with respect to relationship with my father - explains Mahmood at the press conference -.
It turned out to be a very worthwhile trip for me too.
Sometimes, in order not to think about my problems, I try to blur the memories of the past.
The documentary in this sense was therapeutic, it helped me to put dots on certain moments ... of course now others know them too ", he comments with a smile. The singer-songwriter wanted the docuflm (produced by Red Carpet, a company of the ILBE Group , in collaboration with Prime Video) was "the antithesis of a celebration, a career award - he adds -.
Also because seeing me pass by the pine forest in Sardinia, where I cook sausages together with my family (particularly numerous among uncles and cousins), to rehearsals in the London dressing rooms does not correspond to the portrait of a superstar who breaks everything.
I didn't want it to be a pompous story, but that the more human side of this journey was in relief, the transformation that music brings in me.
I wanted to show how I really am. "The musician, in his journey of exploration of other arts, last year also published a graphic novel, Ghettolimpo. On the paths of the soul (Mondadori):" I think it is becoming increasingly simplistic to speak of barriers between music, cinema, literature, fashion .... I think everything is linkable and connectable.