Francesco Mazza

Francesco (Francio) Mazza (born 1982) is an Italian writer, screenwriter, and director from Milan.

He began his career as a recurring guest on Michele Santoro’s talk shows (Circus, Il Raggio Verde) aired on Rai 2, and later worked as a reporter for Mosquito on Italia 1. In 2003, he joined Antonio Ricci's team, contributing as a writer to Striscia la notizia,^[1] aired on Canale 5,^[2] Paperissima Sprint and Le Nuove Mostre.

After moving to New York to study filmmaking, he collaborated with american director Amos Poe on the short film Frankie (Italian Roulette),^[3] in which he also acted as the main character.^[4] Frankie (Italian Roulette) was a finalist at Nastri d'Argento awards.

Mazza directed the documentaries Graffiti a New York^[5] that premiered on Sky Arte (2015)^[6] and features some of the most relevant graffiti writers of all time,^[7][8] and Ettore Majorana - L’Uomo del futuro (2018), on the life and the legacy of Italian scientist Ettore Majorana.^[9][10][11]

His web series Estremi Rimedi ("Full measures")^[12][13] won multiple awards, including Best Italian Web Series at the Digital Media Fest in 2019.

His literary works include "Il veleno nella coda"^[14] ("The poison in the tail"), described by italian literary critic Giovanni Pacchiano as "the Coscienza di Zeno of our time".^[15][16] In September 2024, he returned to Striscia la notizia as an on-screen correspondent, portraying the character "Il Vendicatore dei giovani".

For years, he has been writing op-eds, satirical articles and special reports for various international media outlets. His works appeared in Libération,^[17][18] Linkiesta,^[19][20] Charlie Hebdo,^[21] RaiNews24 among others. In 2016 he won the Macchianera Internet Award for best article of the year, with an article about Charlie Hebdo Comics published on the Italian online magazine Gli Stati Generali.