BIMIFF #4 - ENG

B I M I F F I N T E R V I E W 33
R E B U I L D I N G F A M I L Y T I E S A N D
P R A C T I C I N G S E L F - R E C O V E R Y
"Annavespa" film scene
REBUILDING FAMILY TIES AND PRACTICING SELF-RECOVERY
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CLELIA DI BRIGGIDO, DIRECTOR OF THE FILM “ANNAVESPA”
by Vic Kings and Richard Caeiro
Clelia Di Briggido is a Brazilian actress, director, and screenwriter. She began her training as an actress at Tablado Theatre
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) under the mentorship of director and writer Maria Clara Machado and she has starred in many
theaters plays. On-screen she has worked with the likes of Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Walter Lima Junior. She has a
degree in Cinematic Arts from the Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil).
In 2000 Clelia moved to Rome, Italy, where she lives today, has completed the graduation course in Disciplines of Art, Music,
and Entertainment at the University Roma3 (Rome, Italy), and has led for a few years a theater workshop for children.
Clelia currently collaborates with Aliacom, Agenzia per la Comunicazione (Rome, Italy), and also collaborates with Fabriano
Film Festival (Fabriano, An, Italy).
Having been born in Brazil, your Latin roots must speak a lot during
your creative process in the creation of narratives and characters. Can
you tell us more about your biggest inspirations from the seventh art?
Of course, my roots always speak. Silver Wedding was my first
short film and it was made in Brazil. I wrote the script that tells
moments of the intimate life of a middle-class couple from the
south zone of Rio and I co-directed it with Neli Neves. Caput
Mundi was my first short film made in Rome and alone as
director, where I was also the protagonist. I wrote this script
inspired by my experiences as a foreigner fascinated by the
beauties of Rome and looking for a room to rent. The character is
me, a Brazilian, and the situations are all inspired by scenes lived
in reality. Of course, I blended a little of the situations and
characters I have lived and known and flavored them with a
pinch of fantasy. Within the comedy tone,
my character, for example, is transformed into
something that I would not transform myself. It was a
way I found to show that the city - Rome, which is the
co-protagonist of the film - transforms you. It's like you
either get in the game or you get thrown out. I needed
to tell this story, to tell with good humor my
misadventures in Rome. I find many similarities
between the Brazilian and the Italian. Mainly when the
need to make money makes people try to deceive others
to take advantage. And this, I believe, is universal.
Annavespa is an Italian girl, but her mother is Brazilian.
I tried to put the conflict also in the mother's difficulty
in pronouncing some words in Italian and the
daughter's intolerance of it. This fact is very common in
real life with Italian children of foreign parents.