 Universal Cinema was able to sit down with Alessandra Speciale){kind=link}
During the Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea IFF) Universal Cinema was able to sit down with Alessandra Speciale the head of Final Cut at the Venice Film Festival. Below are some of the highlights of that conversation.
Cara-Lynn Branch, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Can you tell us about your work with the Venice Film Festival?
Alessandra Speciale (AS): I am a member of the artistic team, which selects films for the official section of the festival.
I am particularly in charge of Africa and the Middle East. I also run an industry program in the frame of the Venice production region that is the Venice film market. The program is the Final Cut in Venice. It is a program devoted to films coming from Africa and Arab countries in post-production. It’s the program where we select between 6 and 8 films from these regions, films in post-production, of course.
We screen the work-in-progress copies of the film. And then, we provide some prize, in cash or in kind, to complete and help to support the film to be completed but it’s not only that. We also try to give opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with all the industry participants in the Venice film market. It’s a very important step for them to start their life in the film market because in Venice, we don’t have a classical market with its bidders, but we have a special program where we select themes. And so, the professional people come in there. They know that they have already good quality of films.
(UM): When selecting films, for example, from the Middle East, do you usually take trips to these countries? Is this trip (Red Sea IFF) part of your selection process?
(AS): Yes. I go to festivals where there is an interesting market. Of course, in Venice, for instance, we select only films in world premieres. So, when I go to a festival like the Red Sea Film Festival, I’m not so interested in films coming here in competition because most the most part, I already know them.
So, I normally go to festivals in the region where I can find an industry program with a good selection. For me, it’s very important to come here to the Red Sea Souk because they have a lot of good projects in development, production, and in post-production. So, I can find a project for me to finally get to Venice.
Another good festival for me is the Marrakech Film Festival. I just went a few weeks ago. They have an important meeting program. The name is Atlas Workshop, and then, there was also El Gouna [Film Festival]. This year, El Gouna was canceled, but… it [has] a very interesting industry program.
(UM): How is the relationship between you as a programmer and the artistic director?
(AS): It’s a very democratic work. So, normally people like me who are part of the artistic team, but specialized in certain regions. We know which are the new films are and we suggest to the committee to watch the film. First of all, we ask the film to be submitted officially, and then, when the film is submitted officially, normally, all member of the committee, they see the film.
There are also films that are submitted spontaneously, but it’s very rare. Normally, I know already, the film from my region. That happens also with my colleague following other regions, like Latin America, Asia, Russia and European countries or the North Americas.
(UM): Do you have a quota, for example, for selecting movies to say that this percent of the movies need to be from the Middle East and other countries? Or gender or race?
(AS): We don’t have any written rules about that. But of course, we take care more because I’m a woman to have a good balance in terms of gender. We also take care of geographical balance. We try to have a diversity in terms of females coming from other continents and not just Western theme, of course. We don’t have a written quota but we take care of this diversity.
(UM): Is it the first year that you are coming to the Red Sea IFF? How do you feel about Red Sea IFF and its importance?
(AS): It’s my second time because I also came last year. Red Sea is a partner of my program, the Final Cut in Venice. And, I like the Red Sea Souk. As I told you, it is an important [program] for films in progress in development, production or post-production and there is a good selection. They give a lot of money and that’s so important for this film because sometimes they come from a country where there is less possibility to be financed by the government. So, it’s very important to have this kind of fund. Dubai stopped. Abu Dhabi stopped. So, I think that in some ways, Saudi Arabia took the lead. I appreciate a lot of these aspects of the festival.
There is something that I don’t like too much. In my opinion, they do that, but at the same time they don’t give a lot of attention to the Arab films in competition. For instance, I see most of the communication of the festival is concentrated on glamour and big stars. In my opinion, it’s a pity because if they helped a lot in the filming process, and they finance them, then it would be normal and obvious to support them in terms of communication when the films come in competition.
(UM): I’m curious. When you are selecting films, do you take into consideration the political or social aspects, for example, in Middle East? Do you consider if a director was financed by the government or private sectors? I’m just thinking countries like Iran for example who has censorship issues or governmental interference. I’m just curious if these aspects taken into account. For example, do you feel that the Venice Film Festival should support filmmakers who were imprisoned, or work for humanitarian reasons?
(AS): We are always ready to, but in terms of selection it’s not a criteria for us. The first criteria is the quality of the film.
© 2020-2023. UniversalCinema Mag.