Francesca Fini
Italian videomaker
Interview; 10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background
I live in Rome, Italy, where I work as a filmmaker for independent TV productions. I also run my own company producing underground documentaries about borderline topics. I have a graphic design background, having studied ad IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) and at the Quasar Institute of Rome – Design University.
2. When, how and why started you filming?
I started very early, before the Digital Age with little superVHS cameras. I’ve been always obsessed by the need of documenting my life. In the year 2001 I started filming clips just for experimental purposes.
3. What kind of subjects have your films?
My independent documentaries investigate the relationship between everyday people and some major topics such as sexuality, society and death. In my videoart I somehow do the same thing, with the difference that I’m not investigating anymore, I’m revealing my dreams and nightmares in a sort of surreal scenario in which I’m the main character. You can tell that my videoart is a creative documentation of an endless performance of mine.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
No really, every film I do is different from the other and I don’t consciously follow any style or principle besides the aim of doing good cinema. I want to communicate, to shock and to seduce, and I’m trying to do this with the concept of my movies but also with a very diligent imagery and technical quality. You can tell that my videos are strongly recognizable.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
I use a sony XDCAM Full HD but also Canon EOS photocameras. I edit footage with final cut. I also use photoshop for frame-by-frame editing and animation.
6. The field of “art and moving images†(one may call it videoart or also differently) is is manifesting itself as an important position in contemporary art. Tell me more about your personal position and how you see the future of this field ( your personal future and the future of “art and moving imagesâ€)
I personally think that videoart is the most contemporary form of art, along with performance and live art. Those kind of expression are the most suitable to represent our times.
7.How do you finance your films?
I run a little video-production company working with tv companies and marketing agencies, I invest parts of my earnings in my videoart.
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?
I think that working in a team is very important when you do filmmaking, at least in the pre-production and production stage – it is actually the only way to make things work at that point. But I need to be totally by myself in the post-production stage. All alone in a little dark room, at night, surrounded by silence… that to me is the moment where magic happens and the movie really comes to life.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
The noise of the world, all the things that I live and experience everyday, Reality.
10. What are your plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
Just to keep going this way
Can works of yours viewed online besides on CologneOFF or VideoChannel? Where?
List some links & resources
Sure I have a vimeo channel where all my videos are visible