L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 6 m e n t a r y w i t h f i c t i o n a l e l e - m e n t s . W h a t ' s y o u r m a i n source of inspiration? My main source of inspira- tion is always reality, particular- ly places - in the case of Fiore, one of Rome's youth detention centers - and people I meet. The main characters in Fiore are a teenage girl and a boy, whose love is forbidden, because males and females cannot get together in prison. My inspiration comes from real people, whom I have the chance to get to know, without any judgement or preconception. I r e a d t h a t P i e r P a o l o P a s o l i n i w a s o n e o f y o u r sources of inspiration for your successful second feature film, A l ì B l u e E y e s . C o u l d y o u expand on that? Pasolini, one of the greatest poets, intellectuals and filmmak- er of last century, represents to me more than a mere source of inspiration. In Alì Blue Eyes, there is a d i r e c t q u o t e f r o m P a s o l i n i ' s poem, Profezia ("Prophecy"), that, in the 1960s, was able to foreshadow our contemporary multicultural and diverse soci- ety, by portraying a blue-eyed boy coming to Italy from North Africa. The curious coincidence, that brought me to choose a similar m a i n c h a r a c t e r f o r m y f i l m , c a m e f r o m t h e f o r t u i t o u s encounter with a second genera- tion Italian-Egyptian boy, who used to wear blue contact lenses to feel more integrated. In conclusion, please tell us more about your third and lat- est feature film, Fiore, that w a s i n c o m p e t i t i o n a t t h e C a n n e s F i l m F e s t i v a l , a n d y o u ' r e n o w p r e s e n t i n g a t Cinema Italian Style in L.A. Fiore originated by my desire t o t e l l a r o m a n c e . A s Shakespeare teaches us, there is no love story, without an obsta- cle. When I learned that in Rome there is this youth detention cen- ter, where males and females are not allowed to meet and talk to one another, I conceived the idea for my movie. We follow the universal theme of love, through the eyes of Dafne, a detained female teenager. My film doesn't deal with the theme of culpability. In fact, despite these teenagers are guilt before the law, their feelings of love and friendship are "inno- cent," but forbidden. A s I h a d j u s t c o m p l e t e d Fiore, it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, so that was a very special occasion. With Cinema Italian Style, a very clever showcase of Italian cinema in L.A., I'm happy to introduce my film to the US audience. A n d h e r e i s f i l m m a k e r Gabriele Mainetti's artistic path towards his long-awaited feature film debut, They called me Jeeg, screened on the same night and venue as Giovannesi's film. Please, tell us more about your first taste of the US way of film-making, during your studies at the Tisch School of the Arts (NYC). Do you feel that today you're still influ- enced by what you learned back then? Before my US experience, I had realized some short films in Italy. However, I felt a deep rev- e r e n c e t o w a r d s t h e g r e a t American cinema. I decided to come to study in t h e S t a t e s , t o r e i n f o r c e m y skills, but I was not expecting to learn anything new. If anything, I wanted to debunk the aura around the US way of making movies. The opportunity at the Tisch School, gave me a real taste of working on set and the hands-on skills of operating a camera, that were missing from the Italian way of teaching film-making. On the one hand, I reinforced my technical skills, and, on the other hand, I let go off the film theories and philosophies, dis- seminated in the Italian way of approaching cinema. As I went back to Italy, I realized how it is really unfortu- nate that we, as Italians, have a v a s t k n o w l e d g e a n d i n f i n i t e Continued from page 4 potential, but we are always stuck within the same old per- spective on cinema. How do you feel about your acting debut, side by side to Elio Germano in Il cielo in una stanza (1999), and your acting career as a whole? That was a very long time ago. My first approach to cine- ma happened through screen- writing. From there, I decided to take a stage class, because I deemed essential to perfect and d e e p e n m y w r i t i n g o f w e l l - rounded characters. Upon completion of my stud- ies at the theater school, I quick- ly started to work professionally. My first big opportunity came with Il cielo in una stanza, in which I starred opposite Elio Germano. He was one hundred percent focused on acting, while I w a s a l r e a d y m o r e d r a w n towards direction. In retrospective, my acting e x p e r i e n c e h e l p e d m e i n t h e direction of actors on set, but it slowed down my path towards directing my first feature film. My life's turning point came at 33 years of age, as I was play- ing the role of an introverted and instinctive cop in the Italian TV series, Tutti per Bruno. I fully realized then that I didn't like to act, despite that role opened up a plethora of opportunities to me. Since then, I completely set a s i d e m y a c t i n g c a r e e r a n d focused one hundred percent on directing. I realized over ten shorts, more than any other fel- low film-makers that I know of, as my friend actors were pushing me more and more to venture into my long-awaited feature film directorial debut. You're presenting your lat- est film, They call me Jeeg, at the Cinema Italian Style film festival in L.A. Your innova- t i v e w o r k , t h a t h a s b e e n receiving awards and raving reviews, is certainly a trail- blazer in Italy. How do you think US audience is going to respond to your interpretation of the superhero genre, which it is so familiar with? It's really hard to tell how the US audience is going to react to my work. They call me Jeeg, scheduled to be distributed in the States in 2017, has had encour- aging previews in New York City. I n m y o p i n i o n , m y f i l m ' s early positive reaction is partly d u e t o t h e f a c t t h a t N o r t h Americans feel close to super- heroes, as a familiar aspect of their culture. Therefore, they are not scared off by a type of cine- ma often times very politically active, like the Italian one. On the other hand, however, s i n c e t h e H o l l y w o o d S t u d i o S y s t e m h a s g a i n e d s u c h a n undiscussed superiority in this g e n r e , p e o p l e m a y d e e m , a s something silly and worthless, a n I t a l i a n f i l m d e a l i n g w i t h superheroes. I'm hearing positive feed- back, beyond expectations, from the people who had a chance to watch the film in NYC, but also from several US producers, who c a n n o t b e l i e v e t h e f a c t t h a t , despite dealing with superpow- ers, my characters are more real than the ones, featured in Italian "realistic" social dramas. Whenever two cinematic cul- tures meet, like what I hope has h a p p e n e d w i t h T h e y c a l l m e J e e g , i t ' s e s s e n t i a l f o r a n y European filmmaker to not lose its identity and artistic view. There must be an original blend between cultures, and never a clash. LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Filmmaker Gabriele Mainetti. Photo credits: Photo by arp Actress Kasia Smutniak, filmmakers Claudio Giovannesi and Ivan Cotroneo. Photo Credits sgpitalia

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