L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 6 Filmmaker Laurence Vannicelli: the new Fellini? VELERIO VIALE W hy am I comparing u p - a n d - c o m i n g , I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n filmmaker, Laurence Vannicelli to Federico Fellini, the most cel- ebrated Italian auteur of all times? Well, because the source of ins piration for Laurence's upcoming film, La Certa - set in the surroundings of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo region of Italy – is the same as Federico's. That is to say, his dreams. In fact, Vannicelli has experi- enced a recurring, nighttime journey across the depths of his psyche, that sparked the concept for his surreal romance set in the Italian countryside, where his grandparents were born. As far as Fellini's creative process, for almost thirty years of his life, every morning as he woke up, the filmmaker jot down and illustrated - both artfully and humorously - his dreams, eventu- ally filling up two notebooks. In 2003, Italian publishing hous e Riz z oli (RCS M edia Group) released Fellini's Il Libro dei Sogni – the original note pads combined in one exhaustive and glossy collection of his dreams (English translation, The Book of Dreams, 2007). H ow ever, V annicelli and Fellini are not isolated cases: filmmakers Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Parajanov, Luis Buñuel and David Lynch, as well as painters, Odilon Redon, Salvador Dalí, William Blake, Man Ray, and other artists from every cor- ner of the globe, have chosen to draw on those fragments of sub- conscious reality with no filters, ins tead of more naturalis tic forms of representation. Like American novelist and poet, Jack Kerouac, once said: "All hum an beings ar e als o dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together." We, from L'Italo-Americano, w armly w is h Laurence V ann icelli lots of dreamful nights to come. Please, introduce yourself. What's your cultural back- ground? I'm Laurence Vannicelli and I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My father is from Rome and came to the US to pur- sue his studies. In terms of education, I have a BA in Art-Semiotics at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Is land, and an M F A in F ilm (directing) from Colum bia University, New York City. How was your upbringing in an Italian-American house- hold? My father's entire family still lives in Rome. I spent every summer there as a child and still visit often. My father – who moved to the States when he was 30 - has always held onto his Italian culture, and that was a big part of how I was raised. You're a filmmaker who "wears many hats." Matter of fact, you're a writer, director, cinematographer and editor. Tell me more ab ou t you r beginnings. Did you like hav- ing control over every step of the process? After making some experi- mental shorts, I worked on the short, Open Air, the first one with a real narrative. At the time, I clung to the idea of hav- ing control o ver the entire process, "wearing many hats." Over time, I've tried to let go of that control, realizing that film s houldn't be s imply an expression of what I want it to be, but is really about how you can engage and excite an audi- ence. It was through Open Air, that I first became aware of how important the power of story is and that a film cannot be simply visual. I applied to grad school short- ly thereafter with the intentions of learning how to write and to direct a feature. How was the making of the s h ort, Th e Yo u n g Hou s efly (which just premiered online at Short of the Week), nominat- ed for the Student Academy Award? It was a very funny and mem- orable experience. A crew of five and myself shot it in my mom's house. The lights and the rest of the equipment was very stripped down to the bare essen- tials. The whole budget amount- ed to $500. The success it has had both in festivals (particularly, its nomi- nation for a Student Academy Award) and online, where it has been viewed by over 20.000 people, was very encouraging. The short is weird and experi- mental, and this large recogni- tion definitely stimulates me to keep taking risks. How did you develop the concept for your upcoming black comedy feature film, La Cer ta, to b e s h ot s oon in Abruzzo, region of Italy? A recurring dream was the inception of the film: a guy tries to bury his father; for some rea- son, the latter can still talk but cannot see, forcing the son to describe the Abruzzo's country- side as they search for the ceme- tery. Later on, I expanded the story into s omething much more comedic and romantic, with a "dose" of Andrei Tarkovsky and Michelangelo Antonioni. Could you elaborate on the film's current stage of pre- production. Have you already secured cast and locations? D id you fin d p eop le w h o believed in your project, or rather a series of shut doors along the way? Franco Nero is attached to the role of the father. He is currently giving us some insightful notes about the script. We have also the V F X crew on board and we've already secured 80% of the locations. We will go out to investors this fall (once every- one is back from vacation). So far the response to the film has been really positive in Italy. I think this is because we are avoiding the clichéd portray- al of the country as a picturesque backdrop. The people, the histo- ry and the geography around L'Aquila are all essential char- acters in the film. A few words about your production schedule… Upon receiving the remaining funds, we're going to shoot in spring 2017. While I'm waiting for the financiers to get back to us, I'm polishing the screenplay. Simultaneously, you're in post-production with your first feature, Vera, and in pre-pro- d u ction w ith th e S loan - Awarded, Station Blackout. Please, elaborate on both of them. They are two very different projects, which almost belong to two separate careers. Vera - whose post-production stage just ended - is an indie film, which will premiere later this year, about a model who is aging out of her career. She takes up an acting role in an action movie to make ends meet. On her first day on set, she is unable to feel any sincere emotion and, thereby, to act. The director gives her twenty four hours to find her way through it, or she will be fired. As she embarks on a journey across New York City, frighten- ing things start to happen. Real life and action movie blend in an inextricable way, to the point that she is not sure any longer whether she is losing her mind or bad things are actually happen- ing in the city. Station Blackout, is an action movie, w ritten w ith my co- writer, Matt Black. It's set in a real nuclear power plant, thirty miles north of New York City, on the day a Sandy-like storm causes major flooding. A woman and her dive team are tasked with saving the plant (and the city) from a disastrous melt- down. It echoes what recently hap- pened in Fukushima, Japan. With a s ubs tantial difference, the Japanese area had a population of 100.000, while the area sur- rounding the Big Apple has 18 million residents. Needless to say, that it would be impossible to evacuate everybody on time. The s cript w as heavily researched and guided by sci- ence: it received the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Award, which enabled us to talk with scientists and give it a high level of accuracy. In conclusion, are you get- ting closer to the L.A. Italian- American community, during the pre-production of an Italy- inspired film? Not really. However, my con- nections in the film world are all through friends and producers who are from Italy. Through the Kickstarter's campaign to fund La Certa, I've connected w ith people from Abruzzo (which is where my grandparents are from) and I'm extremely grateful to their sup- port. Filmmaker Laurence Vannicelli. Photo Courtesy of L. Vannicelli LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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