Flaminia, we know you are a terrific artist and we can see you have trained in Italy and UK for Directing, Acting, Singing, Dancing, Screenwriting and Production. After years of work experience and awards, in which expertise do you identify the most? and why?
Definitely Direction, the possibility of crafting from a page an entire audio-visual piece it’s what I’m more interested in. A lot of people, wrongly in my opinion, think that the director is mainly an executor of the script. The way I see it is that the director gives an in depth interpretation of the script through a personal vision…and style. One of my most satisfactory shorts was a proof of concept for a very interesting but completely crazy feature on the theme of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. The writer, a very skilled but unorthodox author, gave literally 1 and half pages of script, full of words but with no dialogue, based on 1 only character: basically a monologue. I created two characters out of it, one that danced. I gave her a background story that wasn’t there and developed 4 minutes piece. One of my best in my opinion.
What is the work you are most proud of and why?
Probably The Power of One Coin. It was a strong script, but again there was a lot to invent. I approached it like a feature film of short length, as it was very dense with 4 different characters..and a dog! intertwining, changing each other's life paths. I would have loved to develop it into a feature.
I am italian but I’m also a British citizen and as an artist I do feel more British to be honest. It’s a great recognisement. There’s a proper rather lengthy application and you have to have been selected by BAFTA qualifying Festivals with your work, on top of having won awards, for being considered. I succeeded on the second application, so not too bad! It’s nice to have access to BAFTA for work meetings or go there to work, or to benefit of the networking and screening events they organise.
Now, as you are a jury member what moved you to be a part of the Make A Wish Film Festival?
I was asked by the organiser, who I know personally. I am always interested in being a juror and see what the new generation of filmmakers is creating.
As you are an expert in evaluating projects, what are the aspects that make a project stand out according to you?
It’s a mix of various elements. Authenticity of the message is definitely one of the most important. Then direction of both camera and especially actors. I have noticed that a lot of young directors tend to concentrate mainly on shots and camera movements, but leave the actors to themselves. that’s a big detriment in my judgment, whilst good acting is definitely a plus. At the end of the day I’ve been an actress myself for 25 years so I know what it takes to deliver a good performance. Then there is the originality of the vision of the director, the personal style that reflects in the care of the costumes, the set designing, the colour palette chosen for the photography, the little details that especially in a short contribute to create the background story. In shorts these are even more important because there’s not much time to develop the whole story. Shorts are a format on their own..
What do you wish for these projects you are evaluating?
To find a bit of the above in each of them, to go far and give their author the confidence to carry on making films. With their own pace though, without rushing. Everybody wants to make a feature, but it requires skills, consistency and a knowledge that is built up through experimenting to find your own voice. So probably this is my wish for them: find your own voice.
The festival's winners will be announced online on September 30th for the following categories: Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Best Photography, Best Sound, and Best Screenplay.
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