Alfarano, Vito

Vito Alfarano
Italian videomaker

biography

1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background

I was born the 15th of January 1978 in Brindisi, Italy. I’m a professional dancer and choreographer. I began studying gymnastic in my town. In 2000 I started my carrer as freelance dancer and I worked with various choreographers: Nicolas Musin, Mauro Bigonzetti, Ismael Ivo, Benjamin Millepied, Claudio Ronda, Karl Alfred Schreiner, Yaron Shamir etc. With my choreography I won first prizes in national and international competition like in Poland the Gran Prix in The IV International Sergei Diaghilev competition of choreographic Art. Between 2008 to 2010 I was the author and teacher of a laboratory of movement and drama with prisoners of Rovigo city and with my video art I received recognition by the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano. Since 2013 I’m a member of the “National Theater in Prison coordination”. I created the dance performance “Il rumore dell’amore… ispirato a Paolo e Francesca e agli innamorati contemporanei” (The noise of love) and “Testa o Croce” (Head or Cross) for the company Fabula Saltica, “Moving the city” for the Dance Biennial of Venice, “Quasi sordo… Mi piacciono i maiali” (Almost deaf… I like pigs) for GDA Puglia 2011 (dance of young author), “UseYourName” for SIDance (Seoul international dance festival, Korea) a collaboration Italy, Israel-Germany and Korea with Yaron Shamir and Na Hoon Park.

2. When, how and why started you filming?
In 2011 I participated in a training course for young dance authors called GDA. For this festival I have created “Almost deaf … I like pigs” a dance performance where I put the world of the hearing near to the world of the deaf in the condition of listening and language.
One of the tasks of the course was to transform the live performance in the film.
Each choreographer, performer also for the same film, was accompanied by a video maker for collaborative work. I filmed the shooting in the street in Bassano del Grappa (Italy). I improvised in the crowd and the video maker with a handheld camera followed me. After the shoot we had two days to edit togheter the video.

3. What kinds of topics have your films?
In 2008 I started a choreographic way, for live performance and video, that sees dance developed through various arguments related to the social problems like until now prison and deaf people.

4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?

To make a film I follow the criteria I use to create a dance show. I start from a concept and study the way to represent it through the movement. Generally I don’t recaunt a story but I describe the emotion that is behind the concept. I share and compare my ideas with the ideas of the protagonists of the film. We exchange our different opinions and together we analyze how to interpret the idea. We do that through an improvisation workshop on movement. The protagonist chooses how to use their body, with total spontaneity. In this way the action is real, spontaneous.
I choose the right location and how to interact with it.
Filming of the scenes. View all images.
I choose the images and how to place them in order to create the right emotion related to the concept. The style of the editing depends from the concept and from the images I have.

5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
My first video was shot with a DV CAM PAL. After we used HD 1440X1080.

6. These days digital technology is dominating also video as a medium. In which way the digital aspect is entering the creation of your videos, technologically and/or conceptually?
I think it is almost impossible to be not dominated by digital technology.
I try to be as long as possible “real”

7. How do you finance your films?
In Italy it is really hard to find someone who has the possibility to finance art projects. My video projects created in prison with the prisoners were funded by the Italian Ministry of Justice. One was made for a festival of dance and other videos were produced by myself.

8. Do you work individually as a video artist/film maker or do you work in a team?
I work in a team and we work together since 2008. Together we realized two live dance performances, two documentary, a video installation and a dance film.
Ideas and direction are my. The team consists of a cameraman, a video editor, a sound technician, a director of photography, a music composer, a photographer and a singer.
Depending on the type of video to create I involve the right people who can work with the protagonists of the film in an artistic way.

9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
The intention of the movement, the expression, the eyes. All those elements that allow you to see inside the protagonist and capture the soul.

10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
My plans are to learn every day much more. Now I’m developing ideas for video work about transgender people and elders.
A dream? To find someone who is disposed to finance my video works and then… I leave my future to the fate… I like surprises and I’m curious to discover which are for me.