Desiderio Sanzi
Actor
Desiderio Sanzi is an Italian director, writer, and multidisciplinary artist known for blending cinema, music, and performance art into immersive, emotionally charged experiences. With a background spanning electronic music production, theatre direction, and visual arts, he brings a distinct cross-disciplinary approach to filmmaking. His work often explores the tension between intimacy and spectacle, merging neorealist influences with bold visual compositions and experimental soundscapes. In 2023, his short film Mirtillo – Numerus IX gained international recognition, winning multiple awards and screening at festivals worldwide. His most recent project, Mirtillo, marks a new step in his evolution as a filmmaker: an 80-minute feature film distributed through Filmhub and set for global release in 2025. He is also the creator of Cuba – Coocuyo Remix, a neorealist portrait of Cuba’s underground electronic music community. Guided by a poetic yet visceral vision of cinema, Sanzi continues to craft films that challenge conventions and bridge art with contemporary audiences.
Movies3
MovieDocumentaryI Like to Dream: The True Story of Felipe Cardeña (Short film), shot by the artist Desiderio, shows us Felipe, as a mime walking through the streets of Havana, through the cross-over testimonies of many people who knew or heard of him: street mimes like him, but also bartenders, street vendors, street people, as well as the famous Cuban writer Yoss, author of an essay on the artist. A hybrid film, halfway between the journalistic documentary and the dreamlike and symbolic reconstruction of the work of Cardeña, the film reconstructs Felipe’s passage through the streets of Havana, through witnesses, but also through Felipe’s performances (such as the large floral poster, with Che’s face, still hanging in a street in Old Havana), the suggestions of his works, his dreamlike atmospheres and colors.
MovieMysteryFantasy1346. The Black Death has arrived in Europe. Andruccio is fleeing his village Coccorone (Italy) in search of salvation. Among the woods and paths he meets a rather singular character who will accompany him to Triora, the 'village of witches', to find the cure. A metaphysical journey that will lead the protagonist to live a unique experience between dream and reality where death will become his travelling companion.
MovieDramaIn a nocturnal Cuba, lit only by the tiny lights of the cocuyos, the island’s DJs and electronic music producers become a living metaphor: like those glowing insects, they come alive at night, illuminating the city with their energy and restlessness. Cuba – Coocuyo Remix is a neorealist comedy that observes their everyday life without filters, moving between clichés and moments of truth, and transforming daily existence into a collective portrait. The film follows both the pioneers and the new generation of Cuba’s electronic music scene, showing how their dedication continues to shape the island’s nightlife culture, in a story where music gives way to the full force of reality.