We interviewed Italian Director Alessio Rupalti who moved to London in 2018 before directing Coming Back, a short family drama rooted in the context of Brexit.
Born in Genoa, Italy, Alessio Rupalti started working on films in Roma as an assistant director of Award Winning Director Pupi Avati. Balancing his work between fiction films and advertising, Alessio Rupalti has obtained numerous international awards, especially for his short Looking for Something Else.
After moving to London in 2018, Alessio Rupalti produced and directed Coming Back, a short film exploring a family’s hidden wounds, revealed by the political context of Brexit.
We were lucky to interview Alessio Ruplati on his young — yet rich — career!
“I wanted to show what I can do outside my home country.”
Let’s talk about your latest short film called Coming Back: What led you to craft this specific story? To what extent were you affected by the Brexit on a personal note and why was it interesting for you to root your story in this political context?
I moved to London to find new challenges and improve my skills. I gained a lot of experience on the sets in Italy and I received several awards around the world, but in the beginning, when I arrived in London, I was under the impression that my CV was not strong enough to allow me to work in the British film environment and this pushed me to make my first short film in English language. I wanted to show what I can do outside my home country. When I moved to the UK Brexit had been voted a couple of months earlier. There was confusion everywhere. Media and people around me were talking constantly about Brexit and I had the opportunity to listen many interesting stories and different points of view. I think cinema should not only entertain people but tell good stories so I thought that it was interesting to film a story of such an important historical event. This is when I started looking for the right story for me and I made: Coming Back.
As a filmmaker and storyteller, to what extent did leaving Italy and moving to England influence your creativity?
Every time I made any changes in my life it has been a great opportunity for my creativity. When I discover new places, new life styles and new emotions, I like to share them with other people through my passion. London inspires me every single day because I have many opportunities to measure myself with international cultures and life styles and that is amazing for my creativity. I have always been attracted by England when I was a teenager but I visited the UK for the first time only in 2015 when one of my short films was selected to a film festival in York. It has been for me love at first sight and when I visited London later on in 2017 I had the confirmation that I really wanted to live there. The year after I left everything in Italy and I started my new life in the UK.
“Productions in England are more thorough and structured […] than the Italian productions which can be a bit more flamboyant.”
Have you noticed significant differences regarding the production of short movies in England compared to Italy? In terms of getting funding and working on set?
Generally Italian sets are much louder than the British ones but for my projects in Italy, I always looked for quiet crews because I like working in a calm and controlled atmosphere. If you watch in fact the backstage of my short films you can see that. I can say that I did not experience significant differences between Italy and England. Instead, I immediately felt that the productions in England are more thorough and structured when talking about rates, safety and timetable than the Italian productions which can be a bit more flamboyant. This is an aspect I really appreciate. Also I find British actors have excellent skills but thankfully we have great actors in Italy too even though unfortunately many of them are not given the chance to show their talent. Regarding the funds I think that it is absolutely easier to get them in England if you are talented, work with good production and have an interesting story to tell.
“The good stories for films are around us.”
What are the films which inspired you and keep inspiring you to tell stories and make movies?
My real passion has always been to tell about emotions and I find my inspiration in daily life because the good stories for good films are around us. However there are also many films that contributed to inspire me. One of them is absolutely my favourite: Cinema Paradiso and I suggest everyone who dreams to work in the Cinema environment to watch it. For me that film explains in an excellent way what the love for Cinema means. It helped me to find an explanation of my love for Cinema. In fact when somebody asks me “What is Cinema for you?” I often reply “Cinema Paradiso”.
How does your work in advertising feed your practice of fiction filmmaking?
I always liked making advertising videos, especially the emotional ones. In the beginning I started mainly for money and finance my personal projects but soon I understood they could help me to learn quickly to direct, edit and create contents for videos. To make an advertising video is faster than films so for this reason I always considered them a good exercise to learn to capture the attention of the audience because if you can make it in a couple of seconds it is way much easier for you in larger videos.
“I did not realize straight away that she nominated my short film as the the winner…”
As an emerging film director like yourself, how do you view film festivals in the development of your career? And what’s your best memory from attending a film festival?
Film festivals are very important for everybody who wants to promote their film although this must not be limited only to emerging artists. I think in fact that also established film directors and producers can get enriched a lot promoting their films through film festivals. These kind of events in the Cinema industry are great chances for films to be promoted throughout the world regardless of their origin. Finally they are an amazing opportunity for networking. I met many professionals I collaborated with at several film festivals and the chance to be awarded gave me a lot of visibility. I remember crystal clear the first selection of one of my short films at a film festival. In that period I was working as assistant for one of the most important living Italian directors and at the end of the shooting day I quickly put on my suit and run to the festival. Due to the traffic I remember I took the underground. I can still feel the eyes of the people there staring at me, it is not quite common to see somebody dressed up for a gala in the underground. That evening I recall my excitement but also the tiredness after the whole working day on the set. The very moment the president of the film festival announced the winner I did not realize straight away that she nominated my short film as winner of the Best Short Film award. It was really funny but absolutely a very emotional evening that I will bring in my heart.
“What you need are a well-structured strong script, great actors and some talent!”
Looking back at when you started your career in film in Italy, what have you learnt since then as a filmmaker? What are the things you have learnt which are critical for making films according to you?
I asked my parents my first camera for Christmas when I was 14 and when I received I remember I couldn’t stop making videos with my friends. I didn’t attend any courses of Cinema because at that time I did not have the financial resources so I spent a lot of time reading books about Cinema as well as watching films. However I learnt the most about my job with the experience. Working with professionals allowed me to learn to write good scripts, to know the editing aspects, to direct a crew and actors as well as promoting a film through film festivals and socials media. Nowadays everybody can produce a film but the idea is what makes the difference. In my opinion there are three fundamental elements required to make a film; the first is a well structured strong script, the second one is great actors and the last but not the less important, a significant talent which no one can teach you. The rest is just an added value to me.
“If you believe in cinema, you can definitely not stop doing it.”
Finally, what can we wish you for the future?
I always had my goals very clear. Every time somebody was telling me my dream is not possible I simply ignored them. I am aware that my choices were not always easy ones but the very moment I picked them I want to follow them resolutely every time. At the moment I am following the distribution of my last short film Coming Back but I am also writing the script of a new one. I cannot reveal more about it but for sure I can say it is a fiction story about a film writer. Among my latest projects there are also the scripts of my two feature films which I am working on with a couple of professionals. I have recently been in contact with a couple of productions but we found ourselves on different paths therefore any producer who might be interested and would like to know more about my projects can feel free to contact me for more details. If you believe in Cinema, you can definitely not stop doing it.
For more information about Coming Back and Alessio’s works, feel free to connect with him on Instagram.
