Jasmine is a hairdresser, she’s 40 years old with a husband and three children whom she loves, but she feels she wants to adopt a little girl at all costs, even if it upsets the family balance. In their second fiction feature film, Vittoria [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Alessandro Cassigoli et Ca…
fiche film], produced by Nanni Moretti, Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, the directors are reconnecting with a secondary character from their debut title, Californie [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Alessandro Cassigoli et Ca…
fiche film], to explore the dynamics at work within a family from Torre Annunziata (Naples). We met with the directors on the occasion of the film’s premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti Extra section.

Cineuropa: Is Vittoria a spin-off character in your previous film?
Casey Kauffman: While we were shooting Californie we were looking for a real hairdresser and the protagonist said she knew one. Marilena Amato worked really well in that secondary role, there was just something about her. During filming, a few years earlier, we’d also got to know her family and her adoptive daughter. Marilena told us about the difficult adoption journey she’d been on, and something clicked.

Alessandro Cassigoli: We thought it was a brilliant story, right up our street. But we were worried that the husband wouldn’t want to take part or that he wouldn’t be able to act. He was a carpenter: totally new to the film world. We went back to Torre Annunziata, we held a very straightforward audition and he reacted really well straight away.

How did you develop the screenplay?
CK: We conducted various interviews before writing the screenplay. They told us about their arguments and fights. We spent a lot of time with them, to create a trusting relationship. On a few occasions, we only wrote a plot, which could help take them back to certain situations they’d experienced in the past. In some scenes, they still had things to say to one another, something to resolve, like in a therapy session. Those were the most wonderful moments in the process.

People who adopt usually belong to privileged social classes. In this instance, it takes a cultural and financial effort for Jasmine to achieve what she really desires.
CK: We didn’t know anything about adoption; they’re the ones who took us inside that vast, complex and interesting world. We also spoke to people who’d adopted, which helped us explore the area in greater depth. They’re the opposite of the typical family who adopts. Usually in films, you don’t see much about the phase before the child arrives. We liked them and their story, we didn’t want to explore a case which was typical of the world of adoption.

You make reference to Jasmine’s father who died from asbestos poisoning after breathing in dust in the Bagnoli plant, one of the many examples of decay that region has suffered.
AC: If you start drilling down into the problems in that region, you can end up losing sight of the story you want to tell. Rather than any notion of geographical identification, that region interests us because it’s the ideal place to make our kind of cinema, which we make with a very small crew, real locations, non-professional actors. This is the third film we’ve shot in that area. We started out with the documentary, Butterfly [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
fiche film], eight years ago. The locals know us now, they help up find the right places and the right people: if we need a social worker for the film, we look for a real social worker.  There’s still this enthusiasm in Torre Annunziata, which makes our kind of cinema possible. It’s been compared to Jonas Carpignano’s films, who’s also attached to a specific small place [Editor’s note: Gioia Tauro, in Calabria].

CK: We’re proud to have made three films in Torre Annunziata without ever mentioning the Camorra!

How did Nanni Moretti get involved in the project and how did you collaborate with him as the film’s producer?
CK: Nanni had screened Butterfly in his Nuovo Sacher cinema. We got to know each other better during “Bimbi Belli” [Ed.: the summer gathering organised by Moretti, showcasing first works of his choosing], where Californie won. We were looking for a producer who’d be right for our next film, which looked set to be atypical in all senses of the word. He offered his services.

AC: Nanni gave us a lot of space during shooting, and a lot of trust. But he did want to visualise what we’d shot every day. Once editing began, he became increasingly involved in the process and it was a wonderful experience for us. He said, “I’ll help you as your first viewer”. And he did, with great rigour and seriousness. Watching the film again here in Venice, we could really see his dedication and his contribution to the work.