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Your new movie Denkraum
- in a few words, what is it about?
In a few words,
Denkraum
is about a schizophrenic mind with homicidal impulses that processes
communication on social networks in its darkest and most occult facets.
What's your personal take on/attitude towards social media and the
like, and to what degree is it mirrored in Denkraum?
In
the movie
Denkraum
I somehow allude to all the most dangerous and
distorted uses of social networks, cyberbullying, conspiracy, fake news,
the isolation of some young people of the new generations in a virtual
world (hikikomori). These
are all problems that I have encountered with the spread of social
networks, but at the same time I recognize their usefulness and I take
full advantage of their communicative potential. I would never have been
able to shoot this film for example without Facebook, I would not have
been able to contact most of the people who participated. And even now I
continue to interface with producers and professionals in the sector
from all over the world thanks to social networks.
(Other)
sources of inspiration when writing Denkraum? The
first source of inspiration was Fincher's film The Social Network. After
watching that movie I thought about what would have happened if there
was a criminal mastermind behind the development of a social network. Then
there are many other cinematographic influences, from Lynch, Pi by
Aronofsky, Polanski (the Apartment Trilogy), A Clockwork Orange by
Kubrick, The Kingdom by Lars Von Trier, the Italian horror movies of the
60s/70s (Mario Bava [Mario Bava
bio - click here], Lucio Fulci [Lucio
Fulci bio - click here]), Cronenberg, J-horror movies and a
lot of experimental cinema such as Level 5 by Chris Marker, and also
literary references from Stephen King to Kafka and Dostojevskji's Notes
from Underground. When
it comes to narration, Denkraum
doesn't necessarily follow a linear storyline - so do talk about the
movie's narrative structure a bit, and how easy or hard was it not to lose
one's plot writing a telling a story this way?
Denkraum
has a narrative structure open to many readings. Alex designs the
Denkraum
social network (or app or website), and from here the viewer may believe that what he sees is real or a projection. There are misleading
clues as to who took control of
Denkraum, whether an occult group called
The Circle or Alex himself or all could be his hallucination. The viewer
is required to make an interactive effort to be able to reconstruct the
puzzle. It was very difficult, I rewrote the film during the editing
many times to get to this result, which was also the only way to make
such a project interesting. What can
you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand? When
you make a film like this you have to organize not only the shooting, but
you also have to think in advance about what you could do in case of any
problem. And in any case, the first goal is to take the best out of what
is available on set. The smooth handheld footage, often with the support
of a flycam, was very helpful for this purpose, in addition to the
surreal atmosphere I created throughout the film. In this way I was free
then in the editing to reconstruct what I wanted. Disorienting camera
angles, blurring, wide-angle lenses and cinematography with sharp cut
lights and numerous scenes that hinder clear vision then served to
provide a dark and disturbing tone. Do
talk about Denkraum's
key cast, and why exactly these people? Most
of
Denkraum's actors are non-professionals, they were chosen mainly on
the basis of their faces and what they could express. For example,
Manuel Melluso suited the protagonist Alex perfectly in appearing nerdy
and dangerous at the same time, and Alba Barbullushi to Alice, a girl with
a pretty face who gets lost in her nightmares. I also modified the
script to adapt itself to the actors I had, many of them had a more
theatrical than cinematic setting, so I tried to always stay on the same
experimental and obsessive tone suitable for an experimental independent
movie.
A few words
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
whole film was shot almost without a budget, so the set was open to all
kinds of unforeseen events. I was ready to replace an actor at the last
moment, to reverse the order of some shots or to modify them. I believe
that this is the best situation to force a director to develop his
creativity. It is not easy to be heard when you are making your first
film, but somehow or other in the end I always managed to get what I
wanted, with a lot of patience. In these situations, a discussion gone
wrong is
enough for people to leave you, you have to be good at working as a
psychologist. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Denkraum?
The
reception of the critics is very positive, I didn't have the confidence
that someone would really appreciate my work, given its peculiarity.
Several viewers too, including film professionals, have written to
compliment me. I'm
sure it will be much better when I manage to make my next features more
expensive, with producers who know how to invest much more in advertising
and distribution.
Any
future projects you'd like to share? In
the last two years I have written other scripts of different genres,
including a horror/thriller movie in which several production companies
have been interested, they consider it very valid so I will most likely
be able to make a film with a decent budget soon. Then I have a crime TV
series whose story has been highly appreciated by Sky in Italy, and I'm
developing the pilot episode because a French production company could
help me make it. Finally there are other projects of which I will figure
out later in my career to whom to propose them to, I am always optimistic. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject?
At
college I studied architecture, but I have always had a passion for
cinema. I started writing and then shooting
Denkraum
when I was
finishing my thesis in architecture on the scenography in horror films
and the sense of the uncanny in the settings. I like seeing and making
films, even if working on such a film was very hard. So before
Denkraum
I had not received any formal training on the subject. I only formally
studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in 2019, when I was
finishing the editing of the film. I think that filmmaking is my best
way to communicate with the world and the people, so I needed to do it.
What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Denkraum?
Actually
it all started with
Denkraum
in 2015, I wrote it and then I found people
in my town to help me shoot it, even if the film was then completed with
Movie Logic and Bluecinematv definitively only in 2020 and released in
2021. I worked as assistant director on some films in Italy and I made
short films during my studies at the New York Film Academy between 2016
and 2019, practically between the shooting of
Denkraum
and the end of
its post-production.
How
would you describe yourself as a director? Now I think I'm very creative as a director and
I know how to adapt to any
kind of situation on the set, even unexpected ones. I also think I have
acquired a very personal style in this path that I am sure I will be
able to demonstrate even more with my next projects. There are a lot of
producers and critics who liked my first films and my scripts, so I think
I'm much more confident now. If
I had embarked on a more canonical path, I am sure that now I would have
much less to tell. Filmmakers
who inspire you?
The
list would be very long, I have watched so many movies every day since I
was very young. Based on each directing situation, references always
come to mind, and I also show them to the crew on set. I must say that I
would not be a director if it weren't for Tarantino, Rodriguez,
Aronofsky, Linklater and Nolan, who taught in the 90s that a passion for
cinema can allow you to achieve incredible goals even without an
adequate budget, and even Troma have always
done so, Combat Shock is one of
my favorite films, or even earlier Roger Corman [Roger
Corman bio - click here] with his production
company. In general, my first project took inspiration from all the
independent, underground and experimental cinema but for the next ones I
will also have other types of references.
Your favourite movies? This
is also difficult but I will mention the ones I have seen several times:
Mulholland Drive by Lynch, Taxi Diver by Scorsese,
Scanners by Cronenberg, Rosemary's Baby by Polanski, Once upon a
Time in America by
Sergio Leone, Fellini’s 8½,
Love Exposure by Sion Sono, Last
Year in
Marienbad by Resnais, Romero's Night of the Living
Dead, Kubrick's A
Clockwork Orange, Tetsuo by Tsukamoto,
Solaris by Tarkovsky, The Long
Goodbye by Altman, Carpenter’s Halloween,
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
by Tobe Hooper, Accattone by Pasolini, The Exterminating Angel by
Bunuel. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I
deplore many Italian films of the last twenty years because people who
know little about cinema are entrusted with great productions only for
kinship and friendships, sometimes it seems that it had been decided
from the start that every actor would act in the worst possible way. Or
there are directors exalted by Italian critics who imitate the
independent cinema of other nations without being able to reach the same
results, some more some less. And then even worse only the hundreds of
films they make here every year that start from a social premise and do
not go further. I do not like the Italian situation in general because
merit is no longer awarded, it is a shame for the important history of
cinema in this nation. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
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Feeling lucky ?
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I
just like websites that also deal with not-too-hyped movies like this
one here or 366weirdmovies, because you can see that the writers
actually love cinema, not just famous actors… Then I always follow
Indiewire and I like NoFilmSchool and Filmmakinglifestyle because they
start from a correct premise and technically deepen every aspect of film
direction. Then I love a Facebook group called Incredibly Strange Films,
and I follow the pages of my favorite directors. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I've merely forgotten to ask?
Yes,
to complete the interview I want to thank all the people who made
Denkraum possible, from the actors to the videomakers, especially
Alberto Fertillo and Pierfrancesco Nalli, also the guys who came for even just an
hour to help those who lent me the equipment, or gave me the possibility
of shooting at their houses or in their clubs, and who also helped me in the
organization, like my brother Danilo Paris, Valerio Mariani, Andrey
Maslenkin, and finally to Movie Logic who then officially produced the
film and helped me finish the post-production with two professionals, Michele Fiori at sound design and Matteo Accurso for VFX. Thanks
for the interview!
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