BIMIFF #4 - ENG

B I M I F F I N T E R V I E W 34
My greatest inspiration is always the human being, our contradictions, and our feelings. As for the influences of the
seventh art, it is difficult for me to say which filmmakers have marked me the most. I grew up watching American,
Brazilian, Italian, and French films. Of the Brazilian filmmakers, I have always had enormous admiration for Nelson
Pereira dos Santos, whom I had the opportunity to meet personally during my film course at UFF, and I even played a part
in the feature film "Memórias do Cárcere". Another great name in Brazilian cinema with whom I had the opportunity to
work is Walter Lima Junior. With him, I took a course on acting for cinema and also a course on assistant director. From
these two courses, Walter selected four actors and four actresses to form a group directed by him. I was among those
chosen! I was thrilled with the possibility of working with a filmmaker like him. The idea was to put on a theatrical show
and be prepared to work with Walter on future film projects as well. We met almost every day to exercise ourselves using
the Michael Chekov method. We worked intensively for a year. It was a fantastic learning experience, but unfortunately for
economic reasons (the eternal problem) we were not able to realize the project. These two filmmakers influenced me a lot.
But I don't see a specific influence on my work. I also have American and Italian cinema inside me. How can I not think of
the great Hitchcock? In Italian cinema, Fellini is for me an idol, a great maestro. But I also admire many others like
Monicelli, Rosselini, De Sica, Visconti, Lina Wertmuller, Scola, and currently Paolo Sorrentino, Garrone, and Virzi. It is very
difficult to name who I admire the most. Because each one has their way of telling a story and I admire a well-told story. I
can't say that this or that filmmaker influences me more. I take my inspiration from many sources and I am very intuitive.
And, of course, my roots are always present in my storytelling.
You have been living in Italy for over 20 years, a country that
produced unforgettable names in cinema, such as Pasolini,
Fellini, Antonioni, De Sica, and many others. How was your
transition as an artist from Brazil to Italy?
I have always loved Italian cinema. I got to know and
learned to love Italy through cinema. I wanted to be on
the silver screen (like The Purple Rose of Cairo hahaha).
When I moved to Italy I had the feeling of living in a
movie. I was fulfilling a great dream and everything
seemed like a fantasy. The difficulty as an artist was that I
didn't have my class or my friends from years of theater
and cinema. But I always loved challenges and this
fascinated me. I took the DAMS (Discipline dell'arte della
musica e dello Spettacolo) at Roma 3 University. I
thought I would find a group of filmmaking friends or
aspiring friends to partner with, but this didn't happen.
On the other hand, I had the opportunity to learn a lot
about the history of Italian cinema, to take a course on
Italian Neo-realism, to study De Sica and Zavatini for
example, to see more films by Pasolini, to study Fellini's
filmography. I updated myself on the new digital
techniques that democratized the directing process. I got
excited about the possibility of shooting a short film with
a reflex camera! (nowadays it can be done even with a cell
phone!) That's how in 2013 I decided to make my first
short film BODAS DE PRATA,
which I co-directed with Neli Neves. Without any pretension,
the short film aimed to entertain. With zero budget and a
Canon 650, made during our vacation in Rio de Janeiro, with
the collaboration of friends and having as set my brother's
apartment. It was a fantastic experience and we had a lot of
fun.
In 2014 it was the turn of CAPUT MUNDI my first short film
made in Italy. We founded Chateau De Lumière, invited
several friends to be partners, and got them involved in the
project. With the help of Romeo Donati, I got the necessary
locations to shoot the scenes. Finally, we put a little money
out of our pocket, and with the cost-free collaboration of the
Chateau partners, we were able to make the short film. We
shot according to the availability of our team of free
collaborators. That is why the short took three months of
shooting! And it was only finished in January 2015. Even
being a practically amateur short film we managed to win 5
awards and were selected for several festivals around the
world. With Annavespa I met more people in the Roman
artistic milieu. Today I have few professional film and
theater friends, but as I work I make new contacts, and my
horizons broaden.