FRAMELINE40 - Arrivederci Rosa
Logline: It’s not about being gay, being straight or being Rosa. It’s about being true.
Length: 19 mins
Director: Flaminia Graziadei
Producer: Flaminia Graziadei and Michèle Wheeler
Writer: Caroline Cooke
Flaminia Graziadei, Director: trained between Italy and the UK in Direction, Acting, Choreography and Dance. Her career developed between Cinema and Theatre over the past 25 years in the UK, Italy and Spain. Since moving back to London in 2012, she created her Production Company LonRom Film producing and Directing4 shorts, 1 Feature 1 TV Pilot and 1 music video her films have won 6 awards in the UK and USA and are currently distributed.
Michèle Wheeler Producer: is a graduate in Mass Communication from the University of Texas, with a passion for Cinema and Media.
After a career begun with the BBC and developedin printing and graphic design, she moved to Italy in 2009. There she meetFlaminia Graziadei andtogether they worked onseveral film projects . Once back In the UK, they foundedLonRom Film Production in 2012 with the view of working internationally, given the broad net of contacts they had developed over the past years in Italy, Spain and the UK.
Caroline Cooke has an MA in screenwriting. She met Michèle and Flaminia at the ECU Film festival in Paris, where they were both screening their films and there the idea of ARRIVEDERCI ROSA was born.
Key cast: Carlotta Morelli, Helena Antonio
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Funders: Crowdfunded on Indiegogo
Made in association with: Gay Village Italy, She Bar Soho and Bar Titania Soho, London. Associate Producers: Taz Ayoub and Carlotta Merzari
Release date: 25 July 2015
Where can I watch it at? Frameline40 LGBT FF in S. Francisco, USA and The Colossus FF in Rhodes, Greece
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
AR is the calling card for the feature development Tuttifrutti (working title) that I’m co-writing at the moment. The story starts with this film and carries on in the feature where we find the protagonists 1 year later.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Because it talks about feeling, emotions, friendship, themes in which everybody, gay or straight, can identify. Because it’s a comedy with layers and portrays gay relationships in a subtle and realistic way. I find too often that gay movies have to be camp and outrageous, delivering a wrong image of what the gay community is.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
There’s always room for changes when a film goes into Production. In this case I have adapted the script also because of translating part of it in Italian. I’ve designed the characters more in depth through the Direction, giving to the film nuances that were not there in the script. Caroline comes from a comedic background and she tends to stay more on the surface whilst concentrating on the wittiness of dialogues and rhythm. As a Director I need more layers and colours to the characters and to the story…so I added them myself!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Very exciting! Apart for winning three awards and being nominated another 3 times, it has been selected in 12 Festivals in 6 months. But what’s more important is that the festival directors, as well as the audience, have appreciated what I’ve tried to do: stay subtle and authentic with the story, without trying to force the message or making it more “spectacular”.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I must say it has been received way better than what I could expect or hope. Again I believe that I’ve mainly answer this question above.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible onwww.wearemovingstories.com?
More attention to the film, and even more to the feature development of it. Possible interest to distributing both and maybe more work offers to me as a Director. I like to mix projects and sometimes to be able to concentrate only on the Direction aspect of a film.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
A bit of all of the above, with particular focus on co-producers, distributors and buyers for the development.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I’d love for it to carry on its journey at the same pace it has started and to have access to many more Festivals, hopefully winning other awards!
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What does it mean to be gay in 2016?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m working on AR development Tuttifrutti, as mentioned, with the aim of going into production by late Spring 2017, as co-production UK/Italy.
I’m also in early stages of pre-production with another feature Luton to Leicester, a road movie Brit comedy with two over 70s female protagonists in the UK and in pre-production with a web series Doggy’s Life, a mystery/comedy about Puppy farms in Italy.
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