Can you tell us about your latest film project?

A couple (him and her) who live in an apathetic and neglected way, this couple is blindfolded because they try not to see the light of truth, their dialogues and the shots make the viewer understand the couple's desires, doubts, uncertainties and lies, this is my latest work (and it is my first work) in Italian the title is: “Romanticissimo”, the version subtitled in English (which I sent to your festival) is titled: “Extremely romantic”.

 

What was the process you went through to bring this project to life?

The idea was born in 2021-2022 when I wrote a script that included 7 episodes, each episode looked at love and sex from a different point of view (asexuality, polyamory, BDSM, the world of incels and more), not having the budget necessary to make a feature film I chose (towards the end of 2024) one of these 7 episodes to make a short film, I then thought about the shooting and what visual style to give it then I looked for the actors and so on.

 

Let us know something about yourself. Who is Alessio Conti?

I am a boy born on June 6, 2000 in Italy, this is, in summary, what my identity card says. I have a curious soul, eager to discover new things, I want to know the outside world but above all the internal world of the human being and cinema is a way to do this.

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What inspired you to become a filmmaker and pursue a career in the film industry?

Since I was a child I was attracted to theater and cinema, theater also as an actor, I did some small courses, cinema mainly as a spectator, I remember that I was very happy to go to the cinema and spent time in video stores, even today I am a lover of DVDs and Blu-rays.

I think that cinema is the most direct art that exists and it is the art that in some way unites the main forms of expression (including: writing, photography, music, acting).

After seeing so many films I decided to make one to express my style and try to stimulate sensations and reflections in those who watch it.

 

What challenges did you encounter during the filmmaking process and how did you overcome them?

When I asked (a few days before filming) the actress (who is also my mother) not to remove her moustache and when I asked the actor not to cut his nose hair, they weren't very happy but in the end I convinced them, these are two important details to convey the sense of carelessness of the couple represented.

The biggest difficulty was to make the actors act with this mainly aseptic and cold style that I was looking for, in the end we got it. Apart from these two things, I didn't have any huge challenges because I had a very clear idea of ​​the short film and I planned the filming beforehand.

 

Can you share any interesting anecdotes or behind-the-scenes stories from the making of your film?

A bit connected to the previous answer: I remember that we spent I think more than 1 hour rehearsing and rehearsing the first 4-5 lines, precisely because I couldn't get the aseptic intonation that I was looking for, almost like reading, with weakened emotions, every so often I said: "too much emotion", "take away that intonation", "think of the most boring person you know" and similar things but we managed it and had a lot of fun during the wrong lines. When we were at the last lines (after several hours) I remember that the actors were hungry and couldn't wait to eat (actually I was hungry too) but first I wanted to finish filming so as not to break the climate that had been created, let's say that we did a little fast together with our stomachs that were rumbling every now and then.

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What was the inspiration for this film?

The initial inspiration came suddenly, probably it was a period in which I was reflecting on love and its facets.

Both for this short film and for other things that I have written that have not yet been made, the intuition comes from the ending, I think about the end of the story, I start from the final message/reflection (at least my reflection, then it is right for every viewer to watch what they want) and I build the rest backwards.

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What is your preferred genre of filmmaking and why?

I don't like to divide films into specific genres, if I really have to, the genres that I watch the most are: comedies, dramas, thrillers and horror and if I really have to choose between one of these, perhaps my favorite is the thriller because it is among those that has within it films very different from each other and it often pairs easily with other genres.

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Who are your favorite directors in the world of cinema?

I love several directors, the first that come to mind are: Alfred Hitchcock, Ari Aster, Stanley Kubrick, Vittorio De Sica, Quentin Tarantino, Matteo Garrone and Yorgos Lanthimos. Another director that I really like but unfortunately little known is Lorenzo Bianchini. I've certainly forgotten someone.

 

How do you select your cast and crew for your film projects? What qualities do you look for in collaborators?

Having done so far only this low-budget self-produced film, I looked among people who know and who in my opinion have the right potential. The most important qualities are definitely the desire to do and the attention to what is done.

 

How important do you think film festivals are for independent filmmakers, and what has been your experience with film festivals so far?

I believe that festivals are fundamental, a place to spread your vision. Since this is my first film, I don't have much experience with festivals.

From what little I've understood so far, extremely romantic is a very divisive film that is liked a lot or almost not at all and I like the fact that it is divisive, it means that it has something to say, that for better or for worse it gets through and doesn't leave you indifferent.

 

How do you handle feedback and criticism of your film? How do you use them to improve your craft?

I appreciate every type of positive or negative comment as long as it is sensible. It is very important to listen to other people's opinions to improve yourself. I believe, however, that there is a danger that a director may develop the desire to indulge requests regardless or to forcefully follow what is in vogue at that moment, thus making his own project lose its identity, this is probably the limit that should not be exceeded.

 

What do you enjoy most about the process of filmmaking?

I like all the phases of creating a film. A painter can potentially take a brush and canvas and make a painting, a musician can potentially take a guitar, start playing and hear what comes out, in cinema something like this cannot usually be done.

One of the beautiful things about cinema is precisely this, that is, the creative process is fragmented, you start from a blank sheet of paper and arrive at a complete audiovisual work, this makes the idea grow, change, live in you and take shape little by little in the various phases of realization.

 

Is there a phase of making the film that you found particularly challenging?

The casting and directing of the actors, I didn't expect them to be such stressful things but they were also the most fun.

 

How are you handling the distribution of this film? What strategies do you use to reach a wider audience?

At the moment I manage the distribution through film festivals, at the end of the various festivals the idea is to make the short film available on some platform. As for the audience, in addition to festivals, I am studying the social network aspect, to be honest I don't use them much but I am aware of the advantages so I will try to use them more.

 

What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers who are just starting their journey in the film industry?

I myself feel like an aspiring director as it is my first film as I said, so I don't feel like giving advice to others, the idea I follow is to try to be innovative, cinema like all the arts needs to renew itself, we need to look at the past with immense respect and admiration without the past becoming a cage or a safe haven in which to stay still.

 

Can you share with us your future plans and upcoming projects as a filmmaker?

There are many ideas, some always on the theme of love, others on completely different topics, for now I am focusing on the distribution of extremely romantic, then I will see what to do.

 

Concluding this interview, what themes or messages are you trying to convey with your film?

Making this short film (extremely romantic) the themes that I wanted to mainly address are: the choice to see or not see reality, the dangers of monotony and the sometimes incorrect knowledge of the partner, these I repeat are the messages, the reflections that I want to convey then surely everyone watching it can see other nuances and draw their own conclusions.