One Of Europe's Most Talented And Interesting Directors Lucia Senesi

Director Lucia Senesi

We met with Lucia Senesi, one of the most interesting young directors in Europe. Her feature documentary “Avanti” premiered at the 2017 RIFF " Rome Independent Film Festival and her short film “Le Conoscenze Difficili” has been selected by Elysium Bandini Studios for the contest “The Feature is Female”. Lucia has a unique directorial vision that has already reached the US and we are sure we’ll hear a lot more about her at cinemas in the near future.

Lucia, you come from the other side of the world, but you have already your short film, “Le Conoscenze Difficili”, streaming on the platform of Elysium Bandini Studios, where we can find works of professionals like James Franco, Mila Kunis, Marina Abramovic.

Trying to do this job is really hard and you never know what will be your next step. When I came in Los Angeles I was very interested in two films James Franco directed, “As I Lay Dying” and “Child of God”. Of course, you try to learn from the works you like, then I saw the contest for Elysium Bandini Studios and I applied. Later they wrote to me and said that the film was selected.

The short film was previously the 2015 YouFilmaker Short Film Festival competition. Can you tell us a little more about that?

I had this idea to shoot a short film where three young guys are preparing a theatrical performance based on Luigi Pirandello’s masterpiece “Six Characters in Search of an Author”. While they were rehearsing, fiction oozes into reality and like in an absurdist meta-theatrical show, their lives influence the way they act. Going to a Short Film Festival is very important for young directors because you have the chance to see other people’s work, confront and share ideas. It’s not about the competition, it’s about relating to others. Meeting talented people is always a good experience, and I love spending my time with people I consider better than me, so I can learn new things fro them. Being the smartest of the group can be safe and give you some narcissistic satisfactions but in the long run, it’s boring, and reserves you from your artistic growth.

You are a well known director in Europe, your film “Avanti” was acclaimed by audiences and critics. How do you feel about that?

I shot “Avanti” with the intention to help people to orientate into this very difficult historical time. At the moment, we are all living in a somewhat big crisis and there’s a frightening distance between the old generation and the new one. This is very disorientating, especially for young people who are educated with the old values. They discover they are no longer valuable, inside the extreme consumerist society. This society is so invasive that it takes every sphere of the human being and replaces it with material things. The result is that we are all in different degrees, neurotic. I think we need a real change, and this takes a long time and hard work, otherwise it’s only about image and lifestyle once again.

Do you think that cinema can be an instrument for change?

Totally. When I was very young, I was shocked by Bernardo Bertolucci’s films because they forced me to put myself in discussion. Now I am thankful for them.You need other points of view.That said, you can’t imitate, you can’t be Bertolucci, or Antonioni, or Pasolini. Theres this James Ivory’s film, “Surviving Picasso”, where Picasso tells Françoise Gilot: “don’t try to be Picasso. Be yourself.” This is the most difficult thing and the real issue, not only as a director but as a human being.