Short Synopsis

In 1989, Italian footballer Denis Bergamini died under mysterious circumstances on a provincial road in Calabria. Officially, it was ruled a suicide. But the evidence never added up. The Shadow Cone reopens one of the darkest and most debated cases in Italian sports history — a story of silence, power, and a man who may have paid for knowing too much.

Reception & Critical Response

The series blends investigative storytelling and visual lyricism. Archival footage, police documents, and cinematic reenactments intertwine to reconstruct the long chain of lies and cover-ups that surrounded Bergamini’s death. Paolo Negro’s direction turns the case into a psychological landscape, using shadows, light, and sound to visualize the tension between truth and denial.

"An intense and elegant series that never indulges in sensationalism. Its power lies in the way it listens — and lets the silence speak." “A rare example of visual empathy — a story of a death that still demands justice.” — Aldo Grasso (Corriere / Io Donna)

"An outstanding work of visual investigation — rigorous, moving, and visually refined." — Cinematographe

“A necessary work that gives back dignity to a forgotten truth.” — Today.it

“Cinematic construction and emotional clarity.” — Taxi Drivers

“An anatomy of a system that looked away.” — Iacchite.blog

Director’s Note – Paolo Negro

“My goal was not to tell a crime story, but to explore the silence around it. The absence of sound, the weight of what is not said — that’s where the truth often hides.”