He interrupts his studies in Literature to move to Lyon where in 1995 he buys a 16mm movie camera and directs the short La Place, dedicated to the square in which he lives, and its regular dwellers. The film receives the "Sacher d'oro" prize at the Nanni Moretti's Festival. After a period of few months at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Roma, a new short: Jahilia (Occidente), the story of a Maghrebin immigrant on the hills of the Oltrepò pavese inspired by the characters and situations in a novel by Flannery O'Connor. In 1997 he takes part in the collective film Com'è bella la città, coordinated by Goffredo Fofi. In 1998, he makes Dolce Stil Novo, story of adolescents living in the suburbs of Milan traced on a novel by Checov; presented at the Locarno Film Festival, Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (Rome 1999), and winner of numerous international awards.