It is the first evening of Filming Italy Los Angeles, reached its eleventh edition and organized by Tiziana Rocca. The inaugural event was held at the Italian Institute of Culture, in the presence of Emanuela Amendola and Consul General Raffaella Valentini. To open the festival was the docufilm of Maestro Giovanni Allevi, Back to Life, an intense work that tells the light possible even in suffering. Here is the full interview with the Master.
Teacher, what’s the heart of the Back to Life docufilm?
It is beautiful when, at some point, we understand that even in the dark and in suffering there can be a light and a sense. This is the focus of the film: it goes far beyond the story of my artistic life and responds to a precise social purpose, that is to be able to tell the light in the dark and give some hope and relief to those who are facing a moment of difficulty.
The project was born from the word “myloma” transformed into music. What’s the melody?
When I received the diagnosis, instead of asking if I would have survived, I asked what notes corresponded to the seven letters of the word “myloma”, using a procedure already used by Bach in 1750. A romantic melody was born, in which the labbemolle brings with it a sweet melancholy. In the film, however, the strongest emotions are the gratitude and rediscovery of the essence of life.
In the face of the disease, what choice did he make?
When such a painful experience comes, we have two possibilities: abandon ourselves to despair or seek a different path, that of gratitude. I chose this path and discovered that being grateful means living fully, living intensely.
What’s the value of presenting this film in Los Angeles, home of cinema?
This work wants to fly very high, go very deep and propose a message through a new narrative. I’m really happy to introduce it to the international and American audience here in Los Angeles, the heart of world cinema.
What is the message that the film brings overseas?
The docufilm is not only the story of my story: it answers a social and philosophical purpose. Can you see a light in the dark? Being happy in suffering? Find a sense of pain? The film answers yes to all these questions.
What role does music play in this path?
During my stay at the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, I composed, on the hospital bed, a concert for cello and orchestra called MM22. In those notes I have transformed anguish, fear, hope, tension towards infinity and gratitude. The docufilm was born from the story of the first test of that concert.
He will receive a prize at the opening of the festival. What does that mean to you?
I am very proud and I want to dedicate it to all people who are experiencing a moment of difficulty, so that they can find strength and hope by entering into a perspective not of despair, but of poetry.
How important are festivals such as Filming Italy for Italian culture in the world?
This festival was born from an authentic passion to support Italian cinema and creativity in the United States and the world. I am proud to be part, even for a moment, of this extraordinary creative energy.
What do you see in your future?
Statistics, in these diseases, say that the future cannot go too far. But I do not believe in statistics: I think of the future as an enlarged present, to live with maximum intensity, where every sunrise is a promise and every sunset a goodbye.
L’articolo Filming Italy Los Angeles opens the eleventh edition with Giovanni Allevi proviene da IlNewyorkese.
