Der Rote Klang
by Elisa Quarello
BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST DIRECTOR & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Where The Paper Boats Go
by Konstantinos Xanthopoulos
BEST LGBTQ+ FILM & BEST EDITING
Apart
by Luca Pirero
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM, BEST ORIGINAL STORY, BEST CAST & BEST INDIE PRODUCTION COMPANY
A Hollywood Mom Short
by Verva Gerse
BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST INTERNATIONAL WRITER
Miss Dress
by Panos Boras
BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER & BEST ARTHOUSE LGBTQ+ FILM
Special INDIE Event at MIA, International Audiovisual Market 2024, Rome
Dojo
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Narrative Short Film), BEST SCREENWRITER, BEST ORIGIONAL ACTION MOVIE & BEST CASTING DIRECTOR
Not Without Gloves
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Experimental Short Film), BEST INSPIRATIONAL SHORT FILM & BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Pathos of Hamlet
BEST ORIGINAL INDIE NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST CINETOATOGRAPHY & BEST AMERICAN INDIE PRODUCER
The Stones of Rome
BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR
Alta California
BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITER
The Mongrel
BEST ORIGINAL TELEVISION SCRIPT
Uncle Franco’s Birthday Suit
BEST ARTHOUSE AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT
Monument to Love
BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Balkan Jazz
BEST INDIE FILMMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL STORY
The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands
BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER, BEST INDIE SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Routine
BEST CAST, BEST INDIE DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENWRITER & BEST INDIE SOUND DESIGN
Searching for Camelot
BEST PRODUCER & BEST DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Remnant
BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST FILMMAKER, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER
The Esteemed Priority
BEST ORIGINAL ANIMATED PROJECT
Non temere
BEST SONG WRITER, BEST EUROPEAN SINGER & BEST HUMAN RIGHTS MUSIC VIDEO
Thankful
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT, BEST ORIGINAL WRITER & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA
Hoot Afternoons Have Been in Montana
BEST INTERNATIONAL VIDEO POETRY & BEST EDITING
Cataclysm Down – Under Part 1
BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR
Ye Ole Glorya
BEST DIRECTOR & BEST ORIGINAL COMEDY
Big Momma Earth
BEST PRODUCER & BEST INTERNATIONAL COMEDY
SONNE- Never let me go
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE FILMMAKER
Colombano & La 21Esima Fetta
BEST ORIGINAL INDIE FILM & BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER
Canovaccio
BEST EUROPEAN INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST LGBTQ+ FILM
The Priory of Sion
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE WRITER
The Addends – Numeri Ardenti
BEST EXPERIMENTAL INDIE DIRECTOR
Eye of the Storm
BEST ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Cabaret Cuba
BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Demon
BEST EUROPEAN ACTOR
Luzinete
BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITER & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SHORT
Nossos Caminhos (Our Paths)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT
Wave Man
BEST EUROPEAN FEATURE SCRIPT
Roll the dice
BEST INDIE EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT
2020: life and death of a virus
BEST PRODUCER (Category: Experimental Short)
PAULA’S DAD and the right button in his head
BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM
Giulietta e Romeo?
BEST INTERNATIONAL FIRST TIME DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT
Etnoragù
BEST EUROPEAN NARRATIVE SHORT
The One Arm Bandit
BEST ARTHOUSE COMEDY
Independent cinema is shrouded in fog. What does “independent cinema” mean after all? A low-budget movie? Cinema free from masters, be it politics or the lobby of the moment? My point of view is simple: making independent cinema means being true to myself. Giving life to what I feel. Being willing to do anything to give it life. I am lucky that a small production, “The Shadows Factory” allows me to realize my projects. Respecting the atmospheres I see. Trying to involve the faces I see from the moment of writing. I admit it: I need to have control. Control over locations. Control over stage design. Control over costumes. Control over so many things. I try to take care of everything that can represent a saving on expenses. My second film, Katabasis” is a very personal film. Maybe too much. Already in my first film, “Santa Guerra” I had a role as an actress. In “Katabasis” for an infinite number of reasons I had to be the leading actress. This required a great effort. I’ve been tied up in every way for days, I was grabbed by the neck a total of 78 times, I had wax poured on me for two afternoons, I put out a cigarette in the palm of my hand for 4 times, I stayed in a grave for hours, lots of nude scenes, lots of sex scenes… Well… All these things were the least difficult. There was an even stronger emotional component. And after 2 months I was tired, emotionally destroyed. I was so tired that everything that happened off the set seemed like a parallel life to me. And in this parallel life, one day I saw open an heavy window. It was closed. The impact was very strong. Apparently, however, I only had a little bruise. The makeup solved everything. It wasn’t like that. The days after, I couldn’t see clearly. I blamed it on tiredness. I continued. When I was behind the camera, I couldn’t “focus” anymore. I blamed it on tiredness. And then I was becoming intractable. I didn’t trust other people’s focusing. I had come to trust only my mother’s eyesight. And she’s not an operator or a focus puller. Until, on December 7, 2023, I shot the final scene of the film as an actress. I remember that day that I didn’t feel well and that I asked to repeat the scene more than 50 times. In the end, I closed my left eye with one hand. I couldn’t see anything with my right eye. There was an emergency visit to the hospital. My eye was flooded with blood. The doctors were confused.
For ten days, serious illnesses were hypothesized and ruled out. The cause was simpler and was discovered during eye surgery: after a few days, the impact against the glass had created a hole in the retina. Problem solved. In January, other problems began. This time in my left eye. Between January and October, I had at least eight hemorrhages in my left eye. On October 14, I had surgery. I hope this is the end of a nightmare. All this because of a collision that I didn’t give importance to. Or at least, not the importance it deserved. This experience of mine means nothing. I don’t deserve applause because I took a risk the eyes to make a movie. I’m certainly not a hero. I’m just a person who loves cinema. In fact, I love independent cinema. And when I’m involved in a movie, it comes before everything else, even myself. I think it should be this way. And I think it shouldn’t be forgotten this when you want to become a director (in this case also an actress) of an independent movie.
Out of State-A Gothic Romance
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST STORY, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY & BEST DIRECTOR
Aneyshia
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: MUSIC VIDEO) & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cherzoso The Silent Film
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM & BEST ACTRESS
The Dead Ringer
BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST INDIE WRITER
Trebbia’s last Hero
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Reawakened
BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK
Eternal
BEST AMERICAN WRITER
Not Without Gloves
BEST EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR & BEST INSPIRATIONAL SHORT FILM
The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER
Routine
BEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR, BEST INDIE ORIGINAL ACTING & BEST INDIE PRODUCER
Amen-Amen-Amen: A Story of Our Times
BEST INDIE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Paradox
BEST ARTHOUSE SCI-FI
The Girl Made of Earth and Water
BEST INTERNATIONAL SUPER SHORT FILM
Brothers of Babylon
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT, BEST INDIE WRITER & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA (Category: International Feature Script)
An impossible secret
BEST INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL SCORE & BEST INDIE FILMMAKER
Voyeur
BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY
Ricchezza vera
BEST EUROPEAN SONG & BEST SONG WRITER
The Girl Who Faded Away
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE MUSIC VIDEO
Dojo
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM, BEST ACTION MOVIE, BEST THRILLER & BEST CASTING DIRECTOR
THE BLANKET – Die schwarze Decke
BEST INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SHORT FILM & BEST EDITING
Remnant
BEST INDIE FILM & BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR
The Pathos of Hamlet
BEST INSPIRATIONAL SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER
The Stones of Rome
BEST INDI CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST ORIGINAL PRODUCER
Emergency Musical Response: Part 1 – Journey to Netherworld
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT, BEST FILMMAKER & BEST INDIE PRODUCTION COMPANY
Hate Can Kill
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Hot Afternoons HaveBeen in Montana
BEST ORIGINAL VIDEO POETRY
Eye of the Storm
BEST INDIE DIRECTOR (Category: Documentary)
Omnipotent Resolution
BEST ORIGINAL SINGER, BEST CHOREOGRAPHY, BEST ARTHOUSE SOUND DESIGHER & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO
Monument to Love
BEST HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Thankful
BEST ORIGINAL WRITER & BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
I Waited for You
BEST ORIGINAL EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR
In a Whole New Way
BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM
Luzinete
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT
Errata in blue
BEST EXPERIMENTAL INDIE FILMMAKER, BEST EDITING & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER
Entangled
BEST EDITING & BEST ORIGINAL STORY
Uncle Franco’s Birthday Suit
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT
The Mongrel
BEST PILOT TV/TELEVISION SCRIPT
Nossos Caminhos Roteiro
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE SCREENWRITER
Artists and Aliens
BEST ORIGINAL SOUND DESIGN
L’Amour est temps de reflets
BEST INDIE SHORT FILM
Blind Faith: Moments of Missed Understanding
BEST EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT
Can’t Figure It Out
BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER & BEST EXPERIMENTAL SCREENWRITER
Ye Ole Glorya
BEST COMEDY
Big Momma Earth
BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Comedy)
In Search of A P-I-G
BEST PICTURE, BEST INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST CAST (Category Narrative Feature)
Rough Shot
BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT
The Taste of Rain
BEST ORIGINAL NOVELIST
Walking In Memphis
BEST INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION SCRIPT
Fire Flies
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
No Porn Avocado
BEST ORIGINAL COMEDY SHORT
Anything You Lose
BEST AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING
I Swear
BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR (Category: Music Video)
American Phantasmagoria
BEST INDIE BOOK
Remnant
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENPLAY
What Kind of Day
BEST INTERNATIONAL DRAMA
Anything You Lose
BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER & BEST INDIE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Out of State-A Gothic Romance
BEST INTERNATIONAL PICTURE
The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands
BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER, BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER
Routine
BEST INDIE DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENWRITER & BEST EDITING
Not Without Gloves
BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM
Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE PROJECT
Eye of the Storm
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Inspired by a True Story) & BEST FILMMAKER
Blanche
BEST INDIE FILM
Thankful
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA
THE BLANKET – Die schwarze Decke
BEST ANIMATION & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING
Dojo
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST ACTOR OF THE YEAR, BEST PRODUCTION COMPANY & BEST ORIGINAL STORY
Alta California
BEST ARTHOUSE WRITER & BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT
“Only You Can Save Her,” pilot teleplay of series THE BOY WHO EARNED HIS MAGIC
BEST TELEVISION SCRIPT
Monument to Love
BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR, BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER
Ye Ole Glorya
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY & BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Comedy)
Big Momma Earth
BEST ARTHOUSE COMEDY & BEST CAST
The Order
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM & BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR
Nossos Caminhos (Our Paths)
BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT
Luzinete
BEST SCREENWRITER, BEST INDIE FILMMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL SHORT FILM
Cosmic Light
BEST ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO & BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Am I a painter?/Czy jestem malarzem?
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Stones of Rome
BEST EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE SHORT & BEST ARTHOUSE ACTOR
The Pathos of Hamlet
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER, BEST INDIE SHORT FILM & BEST EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hot Afternoons HaveBeen in Montana
BEST VIDEO POETRY OF THE YEAR
Omnipotent Resolution
BEST INTERNATIONAL MUSIC VIDEO, BEST DANCE FILM, BEST ORIGINAL SONG & BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER
The Liminal Space
BEST EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST ARTHOUSE INDIE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Saban Bajramovic- My Journey
BEST EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Artists and Aliens
BEST INTERNATIONAL SCI-FI & BEST INDIE ORIGINAL PROJECT
The Call Center
BEST PILOT TV
Fire Flies: The Golden Dragon
BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT
Fire Flies
BEST INTERNATIONAL NOVELIST
Limitless in Las Vegas
BEST AMERICAN WRITER
Lucky in Long Island 2
BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT
An Ever After Drama
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT
Running Out Of Time
BEST MUSIC VIDEO & BEST SOUND DESIGN
Embrace Disruption
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING
Emergency Musical Response: Part 1 – Journey to Netherworld
BEST EUROPEAN MUSIC VIDEO
Giulietta e Romeo?
BEST INDIE SHORT & BEST FIRST TIME DIRECTOR
Brothers of Babylon
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT
Not Without Gloves
BEST EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER
Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana
BEST INTERNATIONAL VIDEO POETRY
Cate and the Garden Bandits by Betsy Coffeen
BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK & BEST ORIGINAL WRITER
The Quest for Camelot
BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER & BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR
The Lost Village
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hotel Purgatorio: Room 917
BEST WE/TV SERIES & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE DIRECTOR
The Four Of Us Are Dying
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
Ye Ole Glorya
BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Comedy) & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING
Big Momma Earth
BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST ARTHOUSE COMEDY
Fire Flies
BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT
Artists and Aliens
BEST INDIE SONG & BEST INTERNATIONAL SCI-FI
Dreams Of Aqua Marine
BEST EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT
Shattered Rainbows
BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT
The Call Center
BEST INTERNATIONAL PILOT TV
Who Are These Bugs
BEST INDIE SONG
A Pilgrimage Into Tibet
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER (Category: Documentary Short)
Precious the Baby Dragon
BEST INDIE WRITER & BEST MANUSCRIPT
Risveglio Planetario
BEST EUROPEAN INDIE MUSIC VIDEO
5 Marzo1955 una canzone per Carla
BEST ARTHOUSE SUPER SHORT FILM & BEST FILMMAKER
THE BLANKET – Die schwarze Decke
BEST ANIMATION & BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category Animated Short Film)
The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands
BEST FILMMAKER, BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER
Routine
BEST INDIE DIRECTOR, BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITER & BEST PRODUCER
Love Is My Gun
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO
The Horror Filmmaker’s Handbook: Creating Terrifying Cinema
BEST INDIE WRITER (Category: Book/Manuscript)
Out of State A Gothic Romance
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST PRODUCTION COMPANY
Atlas Of Uncertainty
BEST INTERNATIONAL SOUND DESIGNER
Say My Name
BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM, BEST FILMMAKER, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST CASTING DIRECTOR
An impossible secret
BEST INTERNATIONAL DRAMA & BEST FILMMAKER
In a Tamasic World
BEST INDIE SONG & BEST ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO
The Golden Years
BEST INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT
Remnant
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST PRODUCTION COMPANY
Dojo
BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTOR, BEST ACTION MOVIE & BEST ACREENPLAY SHORT
Dylan Brody’s Driving Hollywood
BEST INDIE COMEDY
Sinestesìa
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO & BEST ORIGINAL SOUND DESIGN
Alta California
BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Pirandello’s Wife
BEST INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FEATURE SCRIPT
Camino de Santiago – The Pilgrims Speak
BEST ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Ischaemic
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
Nika
BEST INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE
The Visitors
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Emergency Musical Response: Part 1 – Journey to Netherworld
BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR (Category: Short Film)
Alchemy On The Amstel (III)
BEST ORIGINAL EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER
1991. Who is your Neighbor?
BEST ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY
Greta GarBitch: A true story of life loss light and love
BEST ARTHOUSE BOOK & BEST AMERICAN WRITER
TutuTango
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Video Poetry)
Omnipotent Resolution
BEST SONG, BEST DANCE FILM, BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SHORT & BEST SINGER
Luzinete
BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM
Connor and Sonia
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
Eye of the Storm
BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE & BEST DIRECTOR
Prima del Giorno Dopo
BEST CAST & BEST INDIE FILM
Colombano & La 21esima Fetta
BEST EUROPEAN INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING
Blind Faith: Moments of Missed Understanding
BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL FILM & BEST INDIE PRODUCER
Can’t Figure It Out
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Aneyshia
BEST ORIGINAL SONG, BEST INDIE MUSIC VIDEO & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SINGER
Anything You Lose
BEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR, BEST ORIGINAL EDITING & BEST ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Lacrime di Vento
BEST EUROPEAN INDIE PRODUCER & BEST EDUCATIONAL SHORT FILM
Thankful
BEST FEATURE SCRIPT, BEST ORIGINAL WRITER & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA
The Stones of Rome
BEST EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE SHORT & BEST AMERICAN ACTOR
The Pathos of Hamlet
BEST ARTHOUSE INDIE FILMMAKER, BEST INSPIRATIONAL SHORT FILM & BEST EXPERIMENTAL EDITING
Monument to Love
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR & BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Balkan Jazz
BEST PRODUCER & BEST FILMMAKER (Category: Documentary Feature)
Promised
BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT
Catalysm downunder
BEST INDIE FILMMAKER
Life’s Mapped Out
BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SHORT & BEST INDIE PRODUCER
Man in the Mountain
BEST ORIGINAL SCI-FI
-What and who has inspired you the most in your artistic career?
I have been blessed to have had many great people in my life and teachers over the years but the one person that I am most grateful for inspiring me is my late fiancé and co-writer of my album, Erick. He changed my life and enriched it in such positive ways. To have unconditional love is a rare thing on this planet and I definitely don’t take that for granted. He knew my potential, he believed in me and I absolutely love the instrumental pieces of music he wrote for me. When he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in 2007, three days after we got engaged, I got to see how strong I really was and decided to finish our project on my own. Our project was only half complete at that point and as I had so much emotion during that difficult time of grief I chose to find my courage and channel my heart and soul into the songs and write all the lyrics and melody. I was pushed so far out of my comfort zone and have since grown and learned so much about myself. Once again I got to put in practice all that I had honed as a child studying music to then watching Erick in the studio producing bands for years. Finishing my album by laying the vocal tracks and producing our album at Trackdown, Fox Studios was very important to me and definitely a magical experience I will never forget. I wanted to make him proud, complete our project and keep my promise I made at his bedside. And I have! The unique way this album has come to be is nothing short of miraculous and I feel very blessed. “Tragic Fairytale” is my homage to him and a very special song about love, loss and grief and a reminder to keep an open heart, despite the pain, because true love can never die.
-Every true artist is also a revolutionary against power. Do you think there is still room today to express one’s revolution through art?
Absolutely, I do. Creating my documentary short film Change The World and the soundtrack and seeing my art and life journey inspire people around the world and touch their hearts is such a wonderful gift that I am very grateful for. I have deep compassion for myself and every other woman who has suffered any form of violence and I am honored to use my voice for good and speak for those who can’t. My spirit couldn’t be silenced and to now be heard in every country is something so special and is very hard to describe. When I look back at what I have endured and the miracle of surviving the murder attempt to now having my voice heard and winning these special film festival awards is something I could never have imagined would happen! I vowed to make a stand and leave this world a better place than I found it and I am committed. Women are now finding their voice and self-worth and it is fabulous to see. I feel future generations will look back at this point in time with fascination, shock, and dismay and also awe at the courage women have shown by standing up and speaking out about the injustices and violence they have suffered since time immemorial. The social fabric is changing and I’m hopeful the momentum will continue and begin to move more quickly. I see the future in a positive light. I believe change is possible and that we are at the dawn of a new day. As more and more women are in leadership positions, the world will naturally become a more inclusive one and love will become the focus again. Violence will no longer be a silent global epidemic, all girls will receive an education, and helping others will become our primary goal. We have set the wheels in motion to ensure future generations have a safer and more equal world. My message is one of peace, love and unity and being an example of how to turn tragic into magic is the legacy I am creating. Power to the people and music is the universal language. One should always feel empowered to share their voice through art.
-We live in a world where, unfortunately, war still exists. Do you believe that if there were more dissemination of art through the media and social networks, the world would be a more peaceful place?
That is a every interesting and complex question. It breaks my heart to watch the news and see that war is still happening in the Middle East, Europe and around the world. To think that these atrocities are still happening on Earth in this day and age, is beyond my comprehension. Unfortunately, we live in a society that’s strucuture is built on power, and places such emphasis on status, wealth, beauty and fame. For independent artists of any genre, they are faced with the difficulty of having their work heard or seen in a market that is flooded and algorithms in place. I truly believe that peace starts within and we are all responsible for our own healing. That being said, art can definitely inspire the masses and cause a revolution. We are lucky to live in a time where we have social media and can be in control of our own destiny and choose to put our work out for people to find. If your voice is clear it will resonate and artists need to believe in themselves and create without the desire for an audience. The creative process for me is always organic and I have never been motivated by fame, money or others’ approval. I merely speak and sing from my heart and I am very grateful that I have been heard and am inspiring people. There is no greater joy for me than to know that what I have endured has not been in vain and in fact is touching hearts around the world. If that is what you call “a love revolution” then I can die happy knowing I made a positive difference in this world.
-Are you working on a new project? If so, can you give us a sneak peek?
I am working on a new documentary film right now and even though I can’t say too much at this point, I am very excited to share this film once completed. It’s in alignment with my documentary feature film tetralogy and women empowerment.
Orpheus with his lyre
BEST INDIE WRITER
Cosmic Light
BEST INDIE MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brothers of Babylon
BEST ORIGINAL AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT
Emergency Musical Response: Part 1 – Journey to Netherworld
BEST INTERNATIONAL SOUNDTRACK
Anything You Lose
BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Dojo
BEST ACTOR, BEST ORIGINAL SHORT FILM, BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR, BEST ACTION MOVIE & BEST AMERICAN SCREENWRITER
Remnant
BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER, BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Not Without Gloves
BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER
The Horror Filmmaker’s Handbook: Creating Terrifying Cinema
BEST ORIGINAL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Alta California
BEST ORIGINAL WRITER
Magma
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC VIDEO
The Priory of Sion
BEST ORIGINAL EUROPEAN FEATURE SCRIPT
The Stones of Rome
BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT
The Pathos of Hamlet
BEST DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE EDITING
What Kind of Day
BEST INDIE CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST DRAMA
The Quest for Camelot
BEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR
The White Chronicles: The Beginning
BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER
The Dancing Spies @Goddess
BEST INDIE BOOK & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA
Entangled
BEST EUROPEAN DIRECTOR
BLIND FAITH: Moments of Missed Understanding
BEST ARTHOUSE EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM
Can’t Figure It Out
BEST ORIGINAL EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST EDITING
“Only You Can Save Her,” pilot teleplay of series THE BOY WHO EARNED HIS MAGIC
BEST INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION SCRIPT
Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana
BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR & BEST VIDEO POETRY
Sonnets (words in despair)
BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT
The Taste Of Rain
BEST INDIE INTERNATIONAL WRITER
The Victims of Sundarbans
BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SHORT & BEST INDIE PRODUCER
Luzinete
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE SCREENWRITER & BEST FILMMAKER
Roses are Blind
BEST THRILLER
Thankful
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT
Atlas of Uncertainty
BEST EUROPEAN PROJECT & BEST SOUND DESIGN
Monument to Love
BEST ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Darker Realities
BEST ARTHOUSE WRITER OF THE YEAR
The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands
BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER, BEST INDIE SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
Routine
BEST CAST, BEST INDIE DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENWRITER & BEST INDIE SOUND DESIGN
No Porn Avocado
BEST DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENWRITER (Category: Comedy)
E40S
BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT
Best of Times
BEST ORIGINAL SHORT SCRIPT
Omnipotent Resolution
BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM, BEST INTERNATIONAL SONG & BEST INDIE MUSIC VIDEO
Eye of the Storm
BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Documentary Feature)
Errata in blue
BEST EXPERIMENTAL INDIE FILM
Blooming Sisters
BEST INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE & BEST CAST
Sheldon Mashugana gets stooged
BEST INTERNATIONAL COMEDY
By Michele Diomà
It was the spring of 2022 when I received a short movie that intrigued me from the moment I saw the movie poster. It was titled “The Fool.” I hadn’t even finished watching it before deciding that I would ask the two young filmmakers behind it, Darius J. Rubin and Yoshima Yamamoto, to collaborate on my next film to be shot in New York. When you come across hundreds of projects each week, as I do, you quickly learn to recognize the artists who shine with a unique light. I am very happy today to say that the film we worked on together between Manhattan and Brooklyn, O – the fiRSt mOvie by aN alien, is now in post-production. I am equally excited to present to the Wild Filmmaker Community the new project directed by Darius, with cinematography by Yoshima: “In Service”.
Here is an exclusive interview with Darius J. Rubin:
-When did you first fall in love with Cinema?
Ever since I was a kid, I always loved movies. I think when I really fell in love with it was high school, as I was getting older and my eyes started opening to the magnitude of life that I hadn’t been aware of before. This coming-of-age experience was paralleled by a new experience of movies, as a form of rebellion against the stiffness of the authorities in my life at the time, like school and parents. Movies from that time include Pulp Fiction, Dazed-and-confused, Searching for Sugarman, Big Lebowski, La Haine, Boogie Nights, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. These movies aren’t necessarily my all time favorites, they’re all great, but they were the types of movies I was watching at the time that Cinema started playing a very big part of my life.
-Tell us about your last short “In Service.”
It’s set at a funeral, and revolves around a group of young people who have lost a close friend to Suicide. The film explores the cacophony of sounds and voices that populate the space, as people use the experience of grief as an opportunity to bring the conversation back to themselves. This competition for social clout (a very 21st century phenomenon), actively prevents people from expressing the necessary vulnerability to process their grief. We try to explore this by poking fun at the asinine ways we all behave these days in pursuit of social validation.
–When did you realize that this story had to be made into a film?
I’m not sure if there was a specific point that I realized it absolutely had to be a film, but the idea for the story came to me from personal experience, one that stuck with me and shaped who I am, so I thought that, after completing my first film (the Fool), “In Service” had to be the next step. It represented my opinion on society at the time, which I would like to say has grown since, where I was very frustrated with the competition I saw between people on social media, the dopamine roundabout of happiness and despair that constitutes our daily lives, when so much of it is lived online. The experience of the funeral, where I witnessed such a sacred and deeply human event be dominated by this dopamine-grabbing crusade for social-relevance, was, I thought, a perfect example of how we are all missing the trick about what’s really important. And what’s that? The understanding that we are all in this together, none of us have all the answers, so let’s just be honest about that and have a better time. When we are all competing, something like that becomes impossible.
–Is there a person you would like to thank for helping you bring your project to life?
There are lots and lots of people to thank but I would like to point out two people specifically. Adrienne Weiss runs a program called Directing Actors. I did this for two weeks in the lead-up to shooting, and it revolutionized the way I understood working with actors, the backstory of characters, connecting to the specificity of what motivates a character to act in a certain way. Secondly, I would thank Dina Amer for encouraging to me connect with myself and my voice, and for always pushing me to go deeper into the motivations for each character and each scene.
Do you think the Wild Filmmaker Community is helping to turn your dream into a reality?
How could I do it without you Michele!
By Michele Diomà
I am very pleased and honored today to present a special interview to the entire WILD FILMMAKER Community! For the first time on our Magazine, we have Bailey Ives Coppola, a young actor I discovered years ago when I watched Sammy & Quinn, directed by Christopher Coppola, and whom I had the pleasure of admiring just a few months ago at the Cannes Film Festival in the latest masterpiece of cinema history, Megalopolis.
-Who is Bailey Ives Coppola?
In acronym: B:allistic A:nnihilator I:ntroverted L:urid E:nergetic Y:ankee
I:nquiring V:olumetric E:ntertainer S:undried
C:ertified O:dd P:ersonable P:urpose O:nly L:ove A:lways
I am an enigma to myself. I don’t expect this to ever change. I don’t like to define myself based on my earthly existence. Although, I am not necessarily religious or spiritual or atheist or agnostic. The same goes with Solipsism and nihilism. I find it hard to subscribe to anything
Of man or man made. I have tremendous appreciation for the cycles of creation and destruction within human history. So whichever side of the coin it lands there I lie. I believe i am fated and fixed in my free will.
Who is Bailey?
An honest fellow who is ready to defend what he cares about the most being his family and his country at any cost but is never put to the test. They say he has a big heart.
-Which artists have inspired you the most?
From the get go anything by Dr. Seuss and P.D. Eastman. Green eggs and ham and Go Dog Go.
Coming of age: Orwell and Huxley. 1984 and brave new world.
Actors: Brando and Bogart.
-I know that besides being an actor, you also love painting. Do you think art can save the world?
Art has always saved and will continue to save the human soul which depicts the world as it is and as it should be. But sometimes it’s good to let it all burn ❤️🔥 like the Renoir painting in the 1988 film Stars And Bars.
-What makes you happy, and what really makes you angry?
A fastfood restaurant open late at night. A cold beer on a Wednesday. Finding the last item on the shelf. Long distance laughter.
Many machinations of the mind make me angry. They say righteous anger is justifiable. But now I think anger cannot come from love so better to love your enemy and even yourself which can be harder.
-You worked on Megalopolis, the film of the year. How was your experience?
It was incredible just to be on and around set let alone having a part in the flick which is the biggest of my life thus far. It was a fantastic learning experience in control and cooperation. A real dance of the demons as the character Huey is lost in his own manifesto. It was a great pleasure to have finally worked with FFC as his legend of artistic importance had always been made known to me my whole life in America and traveling across the globe.
