–Who is Emanuele Gabbi?

I was Born in 1988 in Trento, Italy. Interested in cinema from an early age, I qualified from high school in graphic arts. I graduated in 2012 in Expert Mass Media – Cinema and audiovisual communication studying cinema in L’aquila (Italy) at the “Accademia dell’immagine”. 

After graduating I took an additional one year course in filmmaking at the London Film Academy in the UK, which enabled me to gain a deep understanding within all departments of cinema production specialising myself In directing and sound recording.

-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

When I was little my father taught me that the camera could be used to make objects and people disappear and then visually reappear in another place. With the stop motion technique, I gave life to my toys by creating animated stories. From there I understood that cinema could create magic, could give life to everything. Also I love surrealism. At the age of seven I saw the film “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” by Terry Gilliam, a film I fell madly in love with.

As an adult, I studied the dynamics of silent film comedies, especially those of the extraordinary Buster Keaton. I often try to blend surrealism and slapstick comedy in my films because they are two pure genres capable of subverting the reality of everyday life to propose it to us in a completely different and unexpected interpretation.

-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?

I am convinced that cinema has always contributed and will continue to bring about changes in society. If a film is well done, it can make us notice things from different and unusual points of view, making us reflect on things that we find hard to notice during the daily routine.

-What would you change in the world?

I personally would like to contribute in any way to make all the narcotic substances disappear. I think they are one of the main cancers of our society. I am currently writing a story about this topic, and I hope one day I can turn it into a movie.

-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?

Over the years, thanks to digital and new technologies, making cinema has become simpler and more immediate and will be even more in the future, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence.

However, this process of simplification reduces commitment and discipline and risks decreasing the quality and innovation in the stories that are told. Once upon a time few people had the possibility of making a film because it had a high cost and therefore there was more quality selection.

Now everyone with such accessible technology and low costs can make their own film independently. This does not mean that it is wrong and that there are no more original and beautiful films but they are simply more difficult to identify and bring out.

But I am confident that by recognizing these mechanisms and applying meritocratic rules, original and meaningful stories will still emerge in the next hundred years.