New shakeup in Italy's culture ministry as Giuli fires senior officials amid controversy after funds declined for Regeni film.Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli has fired two senior ministry officials in the wake of a controversy over the denial of public funds to a documentary about Giulio Regeni, the Italian researcher who was abducted, tortured and killed in Cairo in February 2016.The dismissals, first reported by newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday, relate to Emanuele Merlino, head of the ministry's technical secretariat, and Elena Proietti, who led the minister's personal secretariat. Merlino is alleged to have failed in his duty of oversight over the documentary Giulio Regeni – Tutto il male del mondo, directed by Simone Manetti, which was refused ministry funding despite an application from its producer. Crucially, Merlino is reported to have been aware of the funding refusal but did not inform the minister. The grounds for Proietti's dismissal differ: the prominent Fratelli d'Italia figure in Umbria reportedly failed to appear at the airport for the minister's official mission to New York last month, thereby missing the trip entirely, according to the Corriere della Sera. Giuli's criticism Giuli was forthright in his criticism of the lack of funding for the Regeni film once it came to light. At the David di Donatello awards ceremony at the Quirinale last week, the minister declared the situation "unacceptable" and pledged to restore order and "moral conscience" where opacity and incompetence had prevailed. He subsequently promised the film would benefit from an alternative channel of support, describing it as a unique case. Political reaction Francesco Lollobrigida, the Fratelli d'Italia delegation leader in government, sought to play down the significance of the shake-up at the culture ministry. He described it as a routine restructuring of the ministerial cabinet, noting that the law permits changes based solely on the fiduciary relationship between a minister and his direct staff. Lollobrigida expressed confidence that both Merlino and Proietti would find "useful" roles elsewhere within institutional structures, describing their experience and ability as beyond question, news agency ANSA reports. However, the dismissals were interpreted by some within the majority as bearing the implicit imprint of prime minister Giorgia Meloni's own thinking - ANSA reports - given the high-profile nature of both individuals and the delicate internal politics of Fratelli d'Italia. Sandro Ruotolo, culture spokesperson for the opposition centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) party, characterised the episode as a sign of a governing coalition riven by internal conflicts, score-settling, and competing factions - not only within Fratelli d'Italia but also across the coalition partners. Matteo Renzi, former prime minister and leader of the centrist Italia Viva party, also addressed the dismissals. In a post on X, he accused Giuli of "arrogant incompetence" and claimed that "only one last act remains to be done: fire himself, not others". Latest shake-up The upheaval is the latest in a series of turbulent episodes at the ministry, which earlier in the legislature saw the resignation of under-secretary Vittorio Sgarbi and that of former minister Gennaro Sangiuliano. The Regeni affair has also coincided with an acrimonious public dispute between government representatives of Fratelli d'Italia and Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco over Russia's participation in the Venice art exhibition, further exposing fractures within the Italian right. Giulio Regeni case Regeni was 28 when he went missing on 25 January 2016 in Cairo where he had been conducting research for his doctoral thesis on Egyptian trade unions and workers' rights. The mutiliated, semi-naked body of the Cambridge University PhD student was found nine days later on the roadside in the outskirts of Cairo, showing extensive signs of torture. Regeni's death sparked outrage in Italy, leading to protracted legal proceedings in Rome, with investigators believing that the Italian student was abducted and killed after being mistaken for a foreign spy. The documentary reconstructs Regeni's abduction and torture based on the testimony of his family and lawyer, and was released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the murder. To promote its distribution, the Fondazione Musica per Roma has organised a free screening on 18 May at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. Image: Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli. Photo Wanted in Rome.

Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli has fired two senior ministry officials in the wake of a controversy over the denial of public funds to a documentary about Giulio Regeni, the Italian researcher who was abducted, tortured and killed in Cairo in February 2016. The dismissals, first reported by newspaper Corriere della Sera on Sunday, relate to Emanuele Merlino, head of the ministry's technical secretariat, and Elena Proietti, who led the minister's personal secretariat. Merlino is alleged to have failed in his duty of oversight over the documentary Giulio Regeni – Tutto il male del mondo, directed by Simone Manetti, which was refused ministry funding despite an application from its producer. Crucially, Merlino is reported to have been aware of the funding refusal but did not inform the minister. The grounds for Proietti's dismissal differ: the prominent Fratelli d'Italia figure in Umbria reportedly failed to appear at the airport for the minister's official mission to New York last month, thereby missing the trip entirely, according to the Corriere della Sera. Giuli was forthright in his criticism of the lack of funding for the Regeni film once it came to light. At the David di Donatello awards ceremony at the Quirinale last week, the minister declared the situation "unacceptable" and pledged to restore order and "moral conscience" where opacity and incompetence had prevailed. He subsequently promised the film would benefit from an alternative channel of support, describing it as a unique case. Francesco Lollobrigida, the Fratelli d'Italia delegation leader in government, sought to play down the significance of the shake-up at the culture ministry. He described it as a routine restructuring of the ministerial cabinet, noting that the law permits changes based solely on the fiduciary relationship between a minister and his direct staff. Lollobrigida expressed confidence that both Merlino and Proietti would find "useful" roles elsewhere within institutional structures, describing their experience and ability as beyond question, news agency ANSA reports. However, the dismissals were interpreted by some within the majority as bearing the implicit imprint of prime minister Giorgia Meloni's own thinking - ANSA reports - given the high-profile nature of both individuals and the delicate internal politics of Fratelli d'Italia. Sandro Ruotolo, culture spokesperson for the opposition centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) party, characterised the episode as a sign of a governing coalition riven by internal conflicts, score-settling, and competing factions - not only within Fratelli d'Italia but also across the coalition partners. Matteo Renzi, former prime minister and leader of the centrist Italia Viva party, also addressed the dismissals. In a post on X, he accused Giuli of "arrogant incompetence" and claimed that "only one last act remains to be done: fire himself, not others". The upheaval is the latest in a series of turbulent episodes at the ministry, which earlier in the legislature saw the resignation of under-secretary  and that of former minister . The Regeni affair has also coincided with an acrimonious public dispute between government representatives of Fratelli d'Italia and Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco over , further exposing fractures within the Italian right. Regeni was 28 when he went missing on 25 January 2016 in Cairo where he had been conducting research for his doctoral thesis on Egyptian trade unions and workers' rights. The mutiliated, semi-naked body of the Cambridge University PhD student was found nine days later on the roadside in the outskirts of Cairo, showing extensive signs of torture. Regeni's death sparked outrage in Italy, leading to , with investigators believing that the Italian student was abducted and killed after being mistaken for a foreign spy. The documentary reconstructs Regeni's abduction and torture based on the testimony of his family and lawyer, and was released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the murder. To promote its distribution, the Fondazione Musica per Roma has organised a  at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. Image: Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli. Photo Wanted in Rome.