L'Italo-Americano

I t a l i a n s e c o n d l o c k d o w n started and nobody could travel anymore. How did you produce a d o c u m e n t a r y o f t h i s kind, where many stories come together? As a filmmaker, my goal was to create a documentary that generates itself through others' storytelling. I wanted t h e s e s t o r i e s t o c o m e u p without me narrating them. My sponsors and partners were part of this collabora- tion, however, they allowed me to fully own the project, share my vision, and be inde- pendent on how to commu- nicate it. W h a t w a s t h e m a i n challenge of this project? One of the most interest- ing things is that, usually, you don't have a crew avail- a b l e f o r t h r e e m o n t h s . Because of the lockdown, the c r e w c o u l d s p e n d a l l t h i s time together in the same place, filming - not necessari- ly - every day but taking the time they needed to see the places and meet the people. The most challenging part of the project was starting with- out a plot, yet serendipity played a big role, as I waited for stories to come to me, instead of looking for them. One of these stories is the o n e o f t h e m a n m a k i n g hearts out of the wood he finds in the forests. Which stories were the most unexpected or sur- prising? Kante's wine has some- thing special that I discov- ered while working on this project. It was unbelievable to learn the strength of the vine, able to dig hundreds of meters into the rock to get water and grow. Additionally, what struck me was the idea that the vine must suffer in order to grow and winemak- ers cut their young grapes to make it happen. There's also Tocai, whose story I really w a n t e d t o s h a r e w i t h t h e audience: it's about the name a n d h o w t h e f a m i l y i s n o longer allowed to use it. What did making this documentary during the pandemic teach you? As mentioned during one of the gatherings I filmed, there's a strong connection b e t w e e n l i f e a n d n a t u r e . During the pandemic, literal- ly everyone on this planet had the time to think about their existence, each one of us had the opportunity to learn about life, and many of us focused on the connection with Mother Nature. Just think of how a virus, such a small living being, was able to change the life of billions o f h u m a n s … T h i s i s o n e thing I reflected on during this pandemic. D u r i n g Q & A , y o u a s k e d t h e a u d i e n c e t o pick the hero of this doc- umentary. Is there a sin- g l e a c t u a l h e r o i n t h e film? I challenged the audience t o t h i n k o f t h e i r h e r o . H o w e v e r , i n m y o p i n i o n , there are multiple heroes and, at the same time, one single hero: the Friuliani. The people from Friuli have been able to transform their land into something more, something different, which is culture and tradition. This also explains why the narra- tion of these stories happens t h r o u g h m y o w n v o i c e because I took the responsi- bility to connect all the dots, and the views these people g a v e u s . I w a n t e d t o g i v e these characters the opportu- nity to share their stories while guiding them in the same direction. T a l k i n g a b o u t t h e a u d i e n c e , w h o i s t h i s documentary for? I see many opportunities when it comes to the audi- e n c e a n d w h o i s g o i n g t o watch it. It includes certain groups like food lovers, those who love Italy, and food and w i n e e x p e r t s . T h i s n i c h e plays a very important role but I hope the documentary will be shown all over the world with subtitles, so more and more people can learn about wine from Friuli and why it deserves to be known. This movie was filmed during a painful, yet spe- cial moment for humani- ty. In the future, there'll be directors interested in t e l l i n g a b o u t t h e p a n - demic to the generations to come. Do you see this documentary being one of those movies people will watch twenty, thirty years from now? M y a m b i t i o n , f o r n o w , stops at making sure it gets distributed around the world in the next year or so. I am not sure people will want to remember the pandemic but I s e e f u t u r e g e n e r a t i o n s being interested in under- standing and learning about what happened. I also see this documentary being a ref- e r e n c e f o r w i n e l o v e r s , because people want to drink better wine and want to learn about it. In my opinion, mak- ing a documentary of this kind is special because it's almost like writing a book: you can read a book or watch a movie when you want, it's a long-lasting artwork that transcends time and borders. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 34 L'Italo-Americano SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY Patrick Fantini Corazza and director Gigola during a Q&A in San Francisco (Photo: Nadia Andreini/DILUNA) Recology San Francisco's refuse, recycling, and composting collection company wishes everyone Happy Italian-American Heritage Month Salvatore (Sal) Coniglio CEO circa 1950 Selling Homes Throughout The Bay Area Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation! Continued from page 32

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