He began publishing stories, novels and essays in 1987. Among them were
Le buttane (1994) (The Whores) and Für immer Mery (1989) (Mary forever), which he adapted to
the screen for director Marco Risi, for whom he subsequently wrote
Überleben in Palermo (1990). He also wrote the screenplay for Felice Farina's Ultimo respiro (1992), Damiano Damiani's
Uomo di rispetto (1993) and Claudio Camarca's Quattro bravi ragazzi (1993). In 1992 he directed his first film,
Aclàs Abstieg nach Floristella (1992), which was shown at the Venice Film Festival. He then made two
films from his own novels, La ribelle (1993) (in competition at Locarno) and
Le buttane (1994)(in competition at Cannes).
