Harvey Keitel at Filming Italy Sardegna: 'The Power of Aesthetics Can Change the Way People Think'

The 9th edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival is in full swing. Directed by Tiziana Rocca, the festival takes place from June 25 to 28 in Cagliari and at Forte Village. 

Among the guests of this year, a true legend of world cinema, Harvey Keitel. During the masterclass, he spoke about meeting Martin Scorsese when they were young: “I was a teenager living in Brooklyn, and I started working at the neighborhood supermarket. I met him at New York University in New York. Martin was shooting a 35mm film, and it was his first feature film in that format. There was no budget, and we weren’t getting paid: during the audition, we got into an argument, and then he told me, ‘That was improvisation”. 

For Keitel, art can change the way we perceive things: “At this moment in history, they’re trying to divide us, creating factions within our country, with attacks we’re launching against other countries solely for economic reasons. So the power of aesthetics is one of the most important things for changing the way people think. And that’s where the heart comes into play.” Regarding his meeting with Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction, “We secured the budget thanks to a woman, the film’s producer. It’s very difficult in America to secure a budget for a young director. When he showed up at my door, we talked, and then I asked him, ‘Do you have anyone in your family who’s part of the mafia?’ And he replied, ‘No, I don’t have any relatives like that.’ I pressed him, ‘Then how did you write this movie?” and he said, “I’ve seen a lot of movies.”

The others guest are Elsa Zylberstein, Chiara Francini, Katherine McNamara, Sofia Carson, Romina Power, Erin Moriarty, Olga Kurylenko, Sveva Alviti, Ronn Moss, Sam Levinson, Tim Roth, Kate Beckinsale, Agostina Belli. 

“When I was a kid, I loved economics, so at first I wanted to study development economics, and that's what I chose in college - said across Katherine McNamara during the masterclass - Then I changed course: acting gives you the chance to explore different things and try out different options, and you get to immerse yourself in a whole new world for a couple of months.”

The event has established itself as one of a kind because, for the first time, it brings together cinema and television through screenings, discussions, and presentations of films and TV series, involving the most important distributors and producers from both the big and small screens, alongside the giants of VOD and television entertainment. 

“Filming Italy Sardegna Festival is by now an event that over the years has grown to become a major international meeting point for cinema, television, culture, and music - said Rocca - Once again this year, the festival will bring major figures from the global arts scene to Sardinia, along with many new initiatives that demonstrate our commitment to continuing to innovate and create opportunities for dialogue between artists, the public, and new generations.