Please introduce yourself.
Flaminia Graziadei, Director/Producer born in Rome, Italy but living and working in London
When did you start your career?
I started 30 years ago as a dancer/actress and then as a choreographer and as a director in Theater. In 2001 I moved to Cinema as 1st Ad and then director and Producer.
Can you describe us the reasoning behind “Inside Out”?
INSIDE OUT is based on a Dance Theater piece that I created in Rome in 2011 about panic attacks. It’s a subject I’m personally very familiar with, having experienced them for many years. When I presented the piece I was overwhelmed by the positive reactions: people that suffered with panic attacks were thanking me for the courage of approaching the subject, whilst the relatives or partners were saying that finally they could “feel” what it is to experience a panic attack. So I thought I needed to reach a broader audience and decided to create a short film. I actually managed in my intention, as the film has been seen all over the world in Festivals and it’s now distributed by short international TV in Europe and USA, so it keeps serving its purpose.
How long did the development of your film take?
It took exactly 9 months…funny time eh? Well to arrive to the shooting, to have the finished film it took another 4 months. I basically re-wrote the entire project to adapt it for Cinema.
Can you describe what was most challenging about shooting your film?
The main issue was to find the right talents. I decided to metaphorically divide the one character in two parts, INSIDE, the subconscious and OUT, the rational part. INSIDE doesn’t speak, she dances, because I believe that people can put up boundaries against words, but not as much against the strongly subliminal language of physical interpretation. Likewise the actress had to “live” a panic attack and it had to be true, raw, not manipulated to arrive to the guts of the audience. I have been lucky, I had two incredibly strong performers.
According to your artistic point, who or what is the main inspiration for representing the concept of your story?
I guess I already answered this. It was the need to communicate and to break that wall that there is between people that know what a panic attack is and the people that keep saying “it’s all in your head”.
How do you see the role of an independent artist nowadays?
I don’t want to sound delirious, but I believe that the life of an artist doesn’t belong to just that person. It belongs to their community. Our mission is to anticipate the collective consciousness and contribute to awaken it at the same time. Art is a powerful weapon, talking directly to people’s hearts and sometimes even to their subconscious, breaking boundaries in the process. So I believe that we should be very careful about what we put out there, because having the possibility to talk to a large number of people, should be a responsibility, not an ego trip.
What’s next? Are there any other projects that you are currently working at?
Indeed. At the moment we just premiered ‘The Final Haunting’, our feature which I directed, at the Mumbai Women International FF and we are about to close distribution. In Spring 2015 I have two medium length short films in the pipe line as Director/ Producer. ‘Slapper’, a dark comedy about the thin line between sanity and insanity and ‘Arrivederci Rosa’, a comedy about sexual and personal identity. The main project is scheduled for Summer 2015, a feature I’ve just recently been offered to direct by Patricia Isgate Hayward, Yorkshire Bulldog Productions. I’m very excited about this, it’s a “Tarantino” style film, very challenging and interesting. After that and already in pre-production, we have a LonRom Film feature ‘Luton to Leicester’, again with my direction and a strong participation in devising the story. It’s a brit com road movie with two over 70s female protagonists. I’m very excited for the variety of projects I have in front of me, from action to comedy and to be given the possibility to try myself in different genres as a Director.
Screening films online – what are your thoughts about that? What do you think is the future of web and films?
I believe that there’s a huge request for formats on web. In a way it allows more filmmakers to experiment themselves, being a format that requires less budget. My only fear, given the Cinematic roots I come from, is that the increase of the amount of films and web series that are addressed from the beginning only to a web fruition, could lower the quality of the final product. I think that it’s the filmmakers and producers duty though, to keep an eye on that and to avoid creating a kind of “industry” that looks more at the quantity than at the quality.
And finally, what do you think about EuroIFC?
It has been the first Festival I attended with INSIDE OUT in 2013 and I was very impressed with the level of organization on all fronts and the quality of the films screened. The difference with other Festivals I’ve been invited to, is that ECU gained a place in the Festival Circuit that makes it one of the most rewarding festival to attend. On top of this the creation of the Channel and the follow up guaranteed to all the directors that attended, it’s something that I have not found in any other festival so far. That’s why I’m hoping this year to come back for the European premiere of The Final Haunting, my psychological thriller feature film, that it has just been completed. So fingers crossed!
You can watch ‘Inside out’ HERE.
Read more about Flaminia Graziadei and her projects HERE.
