L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 8 Simone Bor relli's film Eddy is spreading awareness about the Syrian crisis T he American Cinematheque presented the European Film festival on Thursday, September 24 th , for the opening night at the Egyptian Theater in H olly w ood. With s pecial screenings of foreign films from Germany, Greece, and many more, Italian filmmaker Simone Borrelli's short film Eddy was a remarkable humanitarian presentation. The follow ing s creenings consisted of films from Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, etc. and were presented at the Aero in Santa Monica from Friday September 25th until Sunday September 27th. Simone Borrelli was born in Crotone, Calabria, Italy on N ovember 5th, 1985. A s an A ctin g and D ramatic A rts graduate from th e Italian Academy of Dramatic Arts in Bologna, he has built a career in the entertainment industry as a director, actor, musician, singer, and composer; therefore, he was heavily involved as the s criptw riter, director, protagonist, and musician for his film Eddy. Simone has been recognized and aw arded the "G ius to Monaco" vocational award in 2004 for Bes t Y ou ng A ctor. Eddy firs t premiered in Strasbourg on October 15th, 2014, and w as aw arded the Official Human Rights Movie of 2015 by The Council of Europe and later w as aw arded the European 12 Star City Award of 2015 in Paris. A ddres s ing the hars h circumstances caused by the Syrian crisis, the film portrays the s truggles of volunteer doctors, the deaths of Syrian children, and terrorists affecting the entire country and people of Syria. The cultural and s ocial significance of the film is being recognized throughout the world and it is bringing attention to the harsh circumstances that the Syrian people are facing in their country. NANCY CASAS Where did your inspiration for the short film Eddy come from? As a musician, I was initially working on a song with a similar topic as the film. Where a man is a volunteer doctor in Syria and wants to tell a story about this operation to his unborn daughter. H e w ould like to purify the world from bad things and help bring medical attention to S yria. Then I received a proposal to work on a topic that is very difficult: violence against children. I decided to write this story for film but I refused to offer this part to an actor because it is such an important role. I've met lots of doctors who did these things in real life and therefore, I decided to address it myself because of my strong desire to tell this story to the world. How w ere you ab le to produce your short film? What financial struggles did you encounter? Money is an interesting topic for this project because it was a great investment, as we received money from the cons ole of Europe. I'm proud to say we completed the project on a low budget of about 15,000 euros and shot the entire film in about 4 days . We s tarted pre- produ ction in F ebruary and began production in July. It was a lot of hard work. I started as a screenwriter, then as the director and lead actor, and finally as the compo s er and editor. I pers on ally have not earned money from this project but did receive a lot of support from The Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Unicef, Amnesty International, International Red Cross and Red Cres cent M ovement, and s o many other great supporters. All this support is to tell the story of what is currently happening in Syria. There are people that go there and die trying to make the world better and we want the world to know the truth behind it all. Eddy is a film that addresses social and cultural issues of u tmos t imp ortan ce. Wh at message in particular would you like to convey through this film? My intention is for people to be aw are of the dangers civilians and volunteer doctors face in a w ar zone. A t this moment in his tory, this is happening in the Middle East, but if we are not aware it could happen - it is happening- in other places. Bein g acclaimed th e "Official Human Rights Movie of 2015" b y th e C ou n cil of Europe, do you feel a social pressure in addressing these topics? Absolutely. I have felt that from the first moment I began to w ork on this film. Cinema has an incredible power to reach a diverse mass of people everywhere. I like the kind of cinema where a story can open the mind of someone and when they leave the theater they feel a change and a new awareness. Shot entirely in the Province of Reggio Calabria in Italy, the film's s ettin g is mean t to emulate the Euphrates' valley in Syria. What struggles did the production team encounter in doing so? Firstly, when I wrote the story of Eddy and of the "green parrots," I wanted to set the story in Afghanistan. However, I needed to find a way to film it in a place that I knew well and that would be safe. I was born in the countryside of southern Calabria that is similar to the Syrian landscape. When I arrived w ith the crew , w e climbed a nearby hill and at its peak we found a place absolutely perfect. In the film, the name "Eddy" repres ents a s ign of destiny. Linked to the film and all the themes it deals with, I think that probably is the same thing that happened with the productions location. Bein g I talian an d n ot Syrian, how did you overcome this cultural difference while shooting? What approach did you take to accurately portray the Syrian culture? I studied about their habits and customs through books, the Internet, and I especially talked to many people who have traveled there both recently and in the pas t. I focus ed more on volunteer doctors who had experiences there. I learned how difficult it w as for a Wes terner to understand their culture. The differences create a valuable richnes s but als o a huge misunderstanding. I personally think our differences generate a richness of values instead of barriers. Simone Borrelli Photo by Julian Matulich LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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