Italian director Michele Diomà, of Wild Filmmaker, makes a case for low-budget filmmaking and raising the visibility of voices often excluded from the mainstream industry.

Cineuropa: How did Wild Filmmaker come about?
Michele Diomà: The vision behind Wild Filmmaker was inspired by the relationship that Francis of Assisi had with the ecclesiastical institutions of the 13th century. I have been a very fortunate independent filmmaker from the beginning, having had the opportunity to work with artists such as Dario Fo, Francesco Rosi and James Ivory, both in Europe and in the USA. Over time, however, I realised that there were aspects within film institutions that needed to change because if cinema is truly the seventh art, it must be democratised.

Francis of Assisi was the first revolutionary poet who tried to offer the Church a new perspective, but as we know, he ended up speaking to the birds because he was rejected by those in power, who had no intention of changing the existing hierarchies. To make a modest comparison, I believe that today, many film institutions primarily aim to preserve a vision of cinema as a form of expression reserved only for those with considerable financial means. At Wild Filmmaker, we don’t share that belief.

In today’s economy, do you think independent creativity can still prevail over major financial resources?
Today, it is possible to produce a film with very limited financial resources and, above all, to distribute it worldwide free of charge. Wild Filmmaker’s mission is to place the focus back on the artist and on creativity. We don’t consider money as a form of “doping” that makes a film succeed. Wild Filmmaker is among the largest global platforms working in this direction.

You aim to build attention and community by going beyond simple distribution. Can you elaborate?
The storytelling surrounding a film is often more important than the movie itself. We support filmmakers in finding an audience and give them the opportunity to share their vision of the world. In many ways, my role model as a producer and creative aggregator is Roger Corman. He created a sort of “New Hollywood” and was very successful at it. Corman is a true inspiration for Wild Filmmaker, as our goal is to discover and highlight artists with original visions in every corner of the world.

What advice would you give to those who want to start telling stories freely and independently?
Today, cinema is a language accessible to a significant part of humankind. You can make a film with a smartphone. Of course, what truly makes a difference is an artist’s imagination and knowledge. My advice is to study the history of cinema, literature and all the arts, while remaining aware that we are an extraordinarily fortunate generation. We can communicate with the entire world almost free of charge, and I hope this opportunity will not be wasted. I often say to the filmmakers I speak with: “Let us try to create a United States of the World through art.” I believe that humanity’s greatest contemporary tragedies – wars, above all – stem precisely from a lack of willingness to democratise the right of people to express themselves. What if this revolution began with us, the artists?