Filming Italy Los Angeles: meeting with guests Gabriele Muccino, Arisa, Michele Placido

Filming Italy Los Angeles takes place from February 19 to 22, 2025, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles. The festival reaches its tenth edition: organized by Tiziana Rocca, over these years it has allowed more than two thousand Italian films to be visible in Los Angeles. The Festival has also enabled the attribution of two Walk of Fame stars, to Gina Lollobrigida and Giancarlo Giannini. Among the guests of this edition will be Gabriele Muccino, Arisa, Diana Del Bufalo, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Isabella Ferrari, and Michele Placido.

What is your relationship with U.S. distribution?

Gabriele Muccino. The film 'Until the End' was in English, to avoid the convention of dubbing. Each sequence was shot in English and Italian, and it's one of the few cases of a film shot in this way. English helps a lot, but I believe that good Italian cinema can be sold very easily, as it has already happened. I've tried to shift towards thrillers here. My next film, which will be in Italian, I don't think it has fewer possibilities. Today, platforms have also accustomed people to watch in the original language.

In the very near future, with artificial intelligence, an actor could be dubbed in all languages of the world simultaneously, with a sync that adapts. This would clear the way the film was shot. And in this way, we would have a universal language in a short time.

The management times for films in America are very long, and the mortality rate of those not made is high because producers go bankrupt, because actors change. It's a system that wears you out and makes you lose momentum. If I write a film, I need to know that it will be made. It's also depressing that this thing you're putting your soul and brain into might not be realized. In the United States, I've made 4, but in eleven years. Here, on the other hand, in eight years I've made three films and three seasons of a series. Here I express myself freely. Even with Will Smith, I had creative freedom, as with the one with Russell Crowe. 

A day will be dedicated to "Eternal Visionary."

Michele Placido: When I make a film, I don't think about bringing it to the United States. A few days ago, I received 'Caravaggio' dubbed in Japanese, and I was happy that a painter like Caravaggio, revolutionary in light and painting, can reach the East. Pirandello is well-known in the United States, and the film starts right at Princeton University: because in the film, the protagonist opens these letters to donate them to the university. 'As You Desire Me' was purchased specifically to be interpreted by Greta Garbo. The entire film was shot in Belgium, and it cost a lot.

Fabrizio Bentivoglio. I couldn't have made this film with anyone but Michele, because it's the result of more than forty years of friendship, of professional brotherhood. When an actor works with a director who is also a performer, a special alchemy is created. There's no need to say anything, a look is enough.

What advice do you have for those who want to start an acting career?

I can say that it's a craft that isn't learned in school. It's more important to steal secrets from those who are doing it."

How was your work on the soundtrack of the movie Il ragazzo con I pantaloni rosa?

Arisa. It's a necessary project. When I received the script from Roberto Proia, the screenwriter, I felt moved. I had the feeling for the first time of something I had experienced, but didn't have the means to tell. The story is about Andrea Spezzacatena, who after suffering acts of bullying, decides to take his own life in 2019. The lack of acceptance of others' freedom must be eradicated. I had this song that I had written for my mother, and I played it for the screenwriter. What seemed fundamental to me was the beautiful relationship between Andrea and his mother. Based on this song, we continued to dream that the film could have a positive impact, reaching schools. Everyone has a time at their disposal, everyone has the right to live it as they see fit. Being yourself is not a crime. 

You will be the godmother of Filming Italy Los Angeles.

Diana del Bufalo. In the musical I'm working on, with Disney songs, I understood that a mental connection is created with those notes. I was struck that there were no children, but adults attending the show. I must admit that I'm worried about artificial intelligence because it's not clear what is real and what isn't.

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