Apotropia
Italian videomaker duo
biography
Interview: 10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background
Our names are Antonella Mignone and Cristiano Panepuccia.
We’ve lived and worked together for many years and we have given this symbiosis a name: APOTROPIA.
Antonella studied at Teatro Nuovo Ballet Academy of Turin and in 2001 was admitted into the Accademia Isola Danza directed by Carolyn Carlson, in the Venice Biennale.
In 2010 she graduated from La Sapienza University of Rome with a degree in Art and Performing Arts.
Cristiano has been working as painter, cartoonist, photographer, cinematographer and soundtrack composer.
In 2003 we were involved in a road accident, the serious consequences of which prevented Antonella from dancing for a long time.
Since then we have always been together.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
Filming was the best way to mix our abilities together.
Beside our first cinematic experiments, we realized that through video-dance Antonella could keep dancing, despite the accident injuries limitations.
3. What kinds of topics have your films?
Our works focus on symbols, rituals and universal aspects in cultures of mankind.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
Our activity is influenced by a strong interest in the intersections between visual arts, sound art and performing arts: those common areas that they create when they meet and intersect.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
Basically, we make use of photo-videocameras, lights and NLE / VJ softwares.
Microphones, DAW / MIDI sequencer softwares and controllers are used to create and control sounds.
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?
Most of our technical equipment is digital. This allows us to create works that might otherwise require high resources.
7. How do you finance your films?
Until now, our works have been no-budget / self-produced.
8. Do you work individually as a video artist/film maker or do you work in a team? if you have experience in both, what is the difference, what do you prefer?
Although our starting backgrounds were different, today there isn’t a fixed division of roles. This is accentuated by the fact that we are a couple and there isn’t any clear demarcation between work and private life.
The only exception is for the music, which is composed by Cristiano under the pseudonym “Sin Aesthetica”.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
Our works are influenced by philosophical, anthropological and scientific themes and we are particularly fascinated by recurrent themes in different cultures.
The search for a universal language has always been at the center of our experimentation.
For this reason dance and music have a prominent role.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
We are focusing on our current project “DROPâ€, a work divided into several autonomous chapters. In 2014 we completed the first chapter (“Kintsugi”) and now we are on the next ones.
11. Can works of yours viewed online besides on the CologneOFF platform? Where?
On our website www.apotropia.com
For the latest ones only trailers are publicly visible, for now.