San Antonio Film Festival - Without
In a small village in Southern Italy, a solitary old man afflicted by alcoholism wanders off into the countryside for a walk that will change his life forever.
Interview with Director Paola Sinisgalli
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
It was during a trip in Costa Rica. I spent one night in a beautiful pension in a place forgotten by God called Tambor De Puntarenas. I spent the whole night talking to the owner of this place, who told me a lot of local stories... Although they were in Spanish he had my full attention because they were so truthful and profound. Without’s story impressed me so much that I began to think that it could have been a good plot for a short movie.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This is a story about human solitude and desperation - one which is amplified by the geographical and psychological isolation felt in some communities. It’s a story about a life seemingly destined to deteriorate into oblivion; but when all seems lost, we understand the true force in the hope for redemption. Losing something and the involuntary tendency to burrow in self-inflicted misery can unexpectedly lead to the purest form of salvation, if willingness and real values are at their foundation, much like our protagonist.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Without symbolizes important concepts I will always take into consideration. We should always take care of one another and the engine of that care should not be forced by geographical proximity; this care must come from that human connection that unites us all: we are the same, only sometimes some people run ahead and others fall behind. The second theme is that a tragedy can turn into something positive, a disaster, against all odds, may become a constructive experience that will save us, in fact, we can never give up because in life you never know...
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Without is a story about human connection. I am Italian but I have lived in NYC for the past 5 years and I have noticed that, day after day, I am slowly losing sensitivity towards others. This sensitivity, this kindliness used to be my sturdiest character component. I realized I was losing touch with other humans when I hopped over a poor man lying in the subway, almost cursing at him because I WAS LATE FOR A MEETING and his body was an obstacle to “busy” me. As soon as I jumped over him and thought he was wasting my time, I felt a sense of guilt I will never forget. It was a moment of epiphany and I knew I had to do something about this apparent loss of compassion.
Some weeks later, I began to think about a very interesting TRUE local story that a man had told me during a trip in Costa Rica. The town’s drunk got lost and fainted in the nearby jungle under the effect of alcohol. He was found by one of the locals who tried to help him gain his senses, however a simple misunderstanding such as mistaking a barbed wire cut for a snake bite eventually led to tragedy. The storyline was simple, yet very strong and I began to think it would have made a good short film as well as offering me redemption from my newly-self-discovered superficial carelessness.
I started to think about where the story could potentially take place and I soon realized that any small village with people who live close to each other would be the perfect setting. I slowly began to realize I had to set the story in a place I knew well if I wanted real characters to come to life... The answer was straightforward: Basilicata. This region lies between the tip (Calabria) and the toe (Apulia) of Italy and is not well known abroad.
Gibson and Pasolini both filmed movies about the passion of the Christ there and Francis Ford Coppola’s family is from a small village in Basilicata called Bernalda, but other than that I don’t think the rest of the world acknowledges its existence. In fact, Basilicata is not well known amongst Italians either. People from Basilicata (also known as Lucania) often joke by saying “Basilicata exists”. Why do I know Lucania? Because my father is from a very small village forgotten by God, called Gallicchio. I have frequented Basilicata every summer until I left for NYC, in 2010.
I know Basilicata’s people, I know its golden solitary fields, I know its lonely rocks (calanchi), I know the sound of pots and pans one can hear from any town’s alley during lunch-time, I know the smells of boiled tomatoes that expands throughout its villages when women make bottled passata, I know the wrinkles of old ladies who’ve been wearing black, in mourning for bands they lost more than 30 years ago, I know the sound of bells at 8AM, 12PM and 6PM for daily mass, I know the rough palms of old farmers who still go to the Tuesday market to sell vegetables and, most importantly of all, I know the solidarity that characterizes its inhabitants when it comes to helping someone in need.
Writing Without’s subject was a no brainer for me. I began writing with the aforementioned scenes in mind and I began to search my high-school laptop (an obsolete laptop that could very well be part of a How-Technol-ogy-Evolved-during-the-20th-Century exhibition at MoMA) for visual material I might have personally collected in the past... Surprise surprise I found plenty of videos I had shot when I was 17. Amongst these videos I had filmed a harpist in Viggiano, a small village in Basilicata which is locally famous for its harps. The music was sublime and I knew I needed to get in touch with this musician. I contacted Viggiano’s town hall attaching the video of the harpist asking for his contact. Imagine a pixelated low-res vid- eo where you can barely make out 2 harps in a butterfly shape and a man in the center playing them with passion, but in the end what I cared about was the sound. The town-hall secretary replied after 24 hours giving me all the info I needed: the harpist's name was Vincenzo Zitello.
I wrote to him immediately saying I was writing a subject for a short film that I wanted to shoot in Basilicata and I thought his music was celestial and perfect for it... In no time Vincenzo sent all his albums to NYC! This was the first person – and mind you, he was a complete stranger – who believed in the project. When I got a package with all his CDs, I knew the search for Without’s soundtrack had begun 10 years earlier. It was March 2014.
I soon found a New York-based Italian script-writer whom I knew could deeply understand the subject I had written and the psychology of those forgotten places, his name was Vincenzo Cataldo and he was from Bari, Apulia (as mentioned above, very close to Basilicata). In August 2014, I went to Italy and with my dear friend, Bruno Cipriani (Without’s cinematographer). We filmed in various villages in Basilicata with the objective of launching a crowd-funding campaign. In November 2014, Francesca Bianchi (my business partner & producer of Without) and I launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise a budget. The campaign went very well. On January 2015, we received more than what we asked for and that gave me the opportunity to create the team I desired.
We filmed Without from July 4th till July 9th 2015, we were a crew of more than 25 people, excluding the drone crew and all those beautiful people who locally helped us bring the project to life. I brought the project back to NYC and worked on the edit with Giacomo Lampariello, a talented editor from Rieti, a city that lies near the Sabine hills not far from Rome.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Without was accepted to numerous festivals in the US, across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and the audience seems to be moved by the story and its meaning.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Get more feedback and perhaps meet producers.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Sales Agents, Buyers, Distributors
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I'd like people to think about the "other" a little bit more...
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Working on a NYC-based feature film. I have the script and part of the budget. I am looking for a producer who will marry this next project with me.
Interview: August 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Without
In a small village in Southern Italy, a solitary old man afflicted by alcoholism wanders off into the countryside for a walk that will change his life forever.
Length: 19.11 min
Director: Paola Sinisgalli
Producer: Paola Sinisgalli, Francesca Bianchi, Isabella Roberto
Writer: Vincenzo Cataldo
About the writer, director and producer:
DIRECTOR/ PRODUCER
Paola Sinisgalli graduated in Economics for Arts, Culture & Communication in Università Bocconi and obtained a Masters Degree in Marketing Management in Milan. She was the director of Marketing of a production company in New York City for 2 years. In April 2013 he launched TheCreativeShake with her partner in crime Francesca Bianchi. She has managed creative video projects which are known for their international resonance. Without - Short Film is her first work as a director.
PRODUCERs
Francesca Bianchi
Graduated with a Masters of Design after previous studies in interior and graphic design in England & Australia. Francesca has a wide experience in multiple creative discipline and is motivated, focused and a valuable team player. Her gained knowledge of architecture, graphics and photography has led to inspired work and a resourceful approach to successful projects.
Isabella Roberto studied “Film Studies & Entertainment” in Rome and worked for several production companies. In 2010 she moved to USA where she earned a degree in Film Producing at the UCLA Extension. She then worked as Assistant to the CEO of the Bohemia Group Talent Management company in Los Angeles, and between 2012 and 2014 she produced several award winning short films.
WRITER
Vincenzo Cataldo: Born and raised in Southern Italy, he studied “Disciplines for the Arts & Film-making” in Bologna and later obtained a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting at “Università la Sapienza” in Rome. He freelanced for advertising companies and indie production companies and then moved to New York to work on the web-series: “What You Want”. Vincenzo wrote the script for the short movie Without with passion and devotion.
Key cast:
Giuseppe Ragone
Massimo Bonetti
Stefania Villa
Ulderico Pesce
Dino Paradiso
Francesca Ambrosio
Francesco Siggillino
Giulio Pedota
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Sales Agents, Buyers, Distributors, NY-Based Producers
Social media handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/withoutshortmovie/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/withoutthemovie
Instagram: N/A
Other: http://without-shortfilm.com/
Funders: Kickstarter campaign https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paolasinisgalli/without-short-film/description
Made in association with: TheCreativeShake LLC, Purple Road Pictures, Milky Way Media
Where can I see it in the next month?
Amman, Jordan (September 2017)