We’ve recently met Fabrizio Federico during the screening of THE STANDING MAN at The Cinema Museum. Fabrizio is a film director with endless ideas and a strong vision. He wrote his own manifesto entitled ‘PINK8’ encouraging people to create films even with no budget.
Today we are pleased to share his Director’s Notes interview with you.
When did you first start getting into films?
Probably in the womb, watching belly pictures. I must have done something in there not to get bored. As a kid, I really loved Gremlins and Godzilla. Used to watch a lot of Benny Hill and the Italian clown Toto, when used to I live over there. But after I saw The Last Movie by Dennis Hopper that was monumental, I was never the same again after that. In High school, we’d watch Clockwork Orange in the dark corner of the school’s library. They had a cool librarian in there called Mr. Weekly, he was from the underground, introduced me to a lot of Banned Books. He caught me looking for Nietzsche when I was about 15 and he told me he was the Antichrist, which made me want to read him even more. Amazing man.
What is your vision of cinema today?
I see it as an open field really, I’m not out to please the critics or to do things by the book, so I’m very liberated. Cinema is like spaghetti, everything intertwined. Its been a good mixture of old and new ideas all coming together. The internet has really opened the game up. And it’s so simple to make a film these days. You no longer even have to steal the equipment in order to make a feature film anymore. I like to mix everything together; experimental, magick, pop, trance. I want movies to be like a frenzy. My new film Pregnant is a mix-tape journey into technology addiction but through a shamanic rhythm. Cinema can go very far still, being experimental doesn’t mean its akin to shock treatment, it can be fun and deep at the same time.
Who are some of your influences as a director?
Aluminum. I used to really worship certain film directors, almost as if they were sorcerers or witches. Especially before I ever even made a film. Some of them really do see the tribal side of Cinema. I relate to them, being able to see the beauty in mistakes. Sometimes I feel that the secret of life is about being able to reach for your own mental breakdown as fast as you can, so you can then wipe out everything that you’ve learned as a child, and start over again – FAST! Music & Film are the fastest ways to trigger it.
How do you get inspired?
Women have always made great muses. Their angels in that respect. Sex is a big inspiration, I usually feel pretty creative afterward – Or pondering death, that always inspires me to get off my donkey and create. To relax I also watch old cartoons. Casper or Tom Cat seems to do the trick. Aleister Crowley and Looney Tunes can live in harmony. Traveling to Morocco recently was also fantastic. It’s so unreliable and comforting at the same time over there.
How much room do you leave for improvisation?
100%. The whole films are improvised. With each movie, I want to capture a psychosis. Scripts are not the way forward, especially the ones where you’re not allowed to change a single word, that’s just fascism. I find scripts boring, I’d rather have the performers re-live certain periods of their life. I’ll interview them about their lives and if they tell me a story that ties in with the film vibe I will have them re-enact it for me. Complete fucking freedom is the key.
Speaking of films, which novel would you transform into a movie?
I would have loved to have turned the book Lilith by J. R. Salamanca into a movie, but it’s been done already. I came across this book called Dead Horse by Niina Pollari. It had some great cinematic poems in it, I could make it look like a collection, like a sweet bowl with lots of different flavors.
What upcoming projects are you working on?
I’ve created a cinema alter ego, similar to what David Bowie did with Ziggy Stardust. His name is Jett Hollywood and he’s a filmmaker from outer space. He’s a combination of Al Capone, River Phoenix, Mao and the mystic Greek god Pan. Mr Hollywood has made 2 documentaries, The Evolution Of The Earth Angel which is complete and Anarchy In The UK which I need to edit. It’s a doc about the current underground cinema scene in the UK. I’ve also filmed a drama called Loon. So I’ve got a lot of editing to do. After that Im filming a road movie called Crayon Angels about a Jack The Ripper/Boston Strangler style killer who escapes from jail and goes on the run with his gang. It will be a fable.
What is the future of cinema?
I think it’s going to get more schizophrenic and combustible, more psychedelic. Youtube is obviously going to be a big impact on how films will be edited. I’ve already noticed peoples attention spans have shrunk. Especially politicians. I’d like my films to inspire young people who have never studied film but have this urge to create, to just simply pick up their phones and film their worlds and the adventures they get up to. The film manifesto PINK8 represents creative nirvana. Go out and make your own masterpiece, fuck whatever the adult and teachers say. Basically what’s gonna happen in the future is that the middleman in Cinema is going to be eliminated, similar to whats happened in the music industry. Just wait and see.