One might think that a film like Kill Gil (Volume 1), which documents director Gil Rossellini's battle with a rare and devastating bacterial infection, would leave the typical viewer feeling morose and depressed. But just the opposite is true. Shot in a charmingly low-tech, off-the-cuff manner, the film is actually a record of hope, perseverance, and gentle humor. Rossellini, the adopted son of famed Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, falls into a mysterious three-week coma soon after the 2004 Venice Film Festival and is hospitalized in Sweden, where he undergoes a battery of operations to temper the deadly staphylococcus bacteria that is ravaging his body. Staring death in the face, he begins a video diary with the help of family (including sister Isabella), friends, and hospital staff. Bolstered by their support he starts his journey towards an uncertain recovery. The film spares no intimacy, and we are privy to every sore, abscess, and skin graft on Rossellini's weakened body. But his self-effacing charm softens the impact of the film's graphic details. Little by little, he gets well enough for a transfer to a Swiss rehabilitation clinic, where he learns that it is unlikely that he will regain the use of his legs. But he doesn't let the prognosis get the better of him. He immerses himself in his therapeutic regimen, and ultimately emerges from the hospital in a wheelchair and full of life, after seven months of treatment.

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As a teenager, producer/director Gil Rossellini worked on the set and in the editing room with his father, the late director Roberto Rossellini. In the early 1980s, he worked as a production assistant on Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1983) and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984). From there, he began writing, producing, and directing a handful of diverse documentaries that took him from the height of the Himalayas to the corridors of the White House. Today he runs his own media and entertainment company, Rossellini & Associates, which has theatrically distributed such prestigious films as Life Is Beautiful (1997) and Chocolat (2000). Recently, Rossellini founded The East India Production Company with partner Samir Gupta. The company is aimed at producing Indian feature films by the new generation of filmmakers. Several projects are already in development. For more information on Rossellini visit www.rosselliniweb.com

My name is Rossellini, Gil Rossellini, and this is the story of what happened to me between the Fall of 2004 and the Summer of 2005. I was almost dead but my life was spared, and in the process a transformation occurred… a new me saw the light of dawn. For this, I owe a debt of gratitude to a great number of relatives, friends, and people I had never met before. At the airport in Milan I started feeling sick: my right leg was giving me trouble, so I asked to be received in Stockholm with a wheelchair. Once I arrived at my hotel, I was feeling worse and they helped me check in and into my room. Next thing I remember I lying in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit… three weeks later. I was had been in a deep coma. My eyes were open, so the nurses had to keep pouring eyedrops to avoid dryness. What a disappointment, no angels, no tunnels, no shining lights. When I finally woke up, I didn't remember anything. For me, it was still November 19, and I had to rush to the festival screening. During the operations on my legs, I was partially awake but heavily drugged. I imagined being a smoked salmon and a chef was carving my body into thin slices. One magical evening, the clinic's therapists took a group of us to a restaurant in Luzern. It was the first time in months that I did something normal like ordering food, toasting with good wine, or joking with a group of friends in a non-hospital environment. After seven months of hospital life it is time to leave… I am excited but also a bit scared of what awaits me on the other side. I often think of the film Being There with Peter Sellers. I will go to Rome with Jens and Mona in their station wagon. I have a shitload of things to take with me. We will break the trip into two stints, stopping one night in Bologna for good food and some rest. So finally I will return to Rome, a city I love… my city. I return after seven long and mostly cold months in Sweden and in Switzerland. In Sweden, they saved my life…in Switzerland they manufactured a new one for me.