Cacciatore

Can you introduce yourself briefly and tell us about your filmmaking background?

Of Sicilian origins, Giuseppe and Eugenio Cacciatore, we are two brothers who, since we were kids, show us to be great fans of the seventh art. We have collaborated for many years, in the staging of theatrical performances in the Agrigento area with a small amateur company, realizing in the meantime also small short films, also amateur, using the help of friends. In 2018 Eugenio Cacciatore trained in film directing and screenwriting at the "National School of Independent Cinema" in Florence, making as an end-of-course essay, a short film entitled "ROLE GAMES." The following year, we collaborated together on another short film entitled "ANAFORA" which participated in two festivals. Our last work was indeed "AKTION T5," written and directed by both of us, produced by "THE BIG SHAVED" company and distributed by "THE WIDER SCREEN."

 

What inspired you to become a filmmaker and how did you get started in the industry?

As mentioned earlier, we have always been fascinated by the audiovisual product in general and cinema in general, devouring film after film since we were children. Watching and studying various films and studying how great filmmakers, of whom we are both great admirers, created some of their great films, has always been something extremely fascinating and mesmerizing for us, so much so that we wanted to create something ourselves and bring personal stories to life, also making use of our partly shared and partly contrasting visions and points of view, a characteristic that we also believe can be our strong point in the creation of a product.

Our first real professional work was indeed "AKTION T5," made thanks to Giuseppe Rasi and his company "THE BIG SHAVED," who believed in our story and allowed us to bring it to light, so we would like to thank him for the trust we believe we have repaid.

 

What was your motivation for creating this particular film?

What we have always been interested in and are interested in are the personal dynamics that are established between people, whether they are acquaintances or not. It is no coincidence that in our short film the relationships that exist between the two brothers and their corresponding companions are central, bonds that are simple but at the same time complex for a number of reasons that everyday life inevitably brings you to face. In the case of our story, the thread that binds the characters and leads them to face existential and couple difficulties is due to the lineage of the two brothers.

 

Did you face any challenges during the production process? If yes, how did you overcome them?

We shot the short film during the time of the pandemic, but in spite of that, complying with all safety protocols, the set work went very smoothly. Paradoxically, the biggest challenge we faced was not on the set but before shooting, because as we said before, it was the period when the pandemic did not allow physical and live encounters. So the whole preparation phase, especially with the actors was dealt with remotely through video calls, where we precisely talked and discussed the project with the actors and other crew members to outline the style and ultimate vision we had in mind regarding the story.

 

Can you talk about the creative decisions made during the development of the film, such as the visual style or narrative approach?

We talked a lot about the visual style, especially with the cinematographer whom we also gave references to take cues from. The same was true with the actors, with whom we spent hours in video calls discussing the characters and how they should be, their psychological profiles, etc. Then most of the discussions took place between us brothers, but we agreed from the beginning on the type of direction to adopt, made up a lot of close-ups and close-ups on the actors, just to bring out their emotions and feelings, an approach that seemed to us to be the right one given the story being told.

 

Are there any specific themes or messages you wanted to convey through your film?

The theme we wanted to bring out right away is that even if one knows a person very well or at least thinks one knows them like an open book, there is actually always a dark side that is not given to know. This we believe applies to all people, everyone has something to hide even from the dearest person they know. And that is what makes people fascinating, which is the fact that you never really know fully who you have in front of you, let's repeat even the person closest to you. There will always be something in his past or present that you are better off not knowing.

 

How do you think your film differs from others in the same genre or category?

We do not know whether our film has the merit of standing out from other similar products. What we can say is that, being brothers as well as the protagonists of our story, we also put a little bit of ourselves into telling the characters. The bond between siblings is something extremely complex and unbreakable, built on complicity and affinity but at the same time peppered with envy, strife and sometimes prevarication. It is a bond that plays a lot on the duality of the people in question, and in a short time we tried to bring out in a small way between our two protagonists.

 

What do you hope the audience will gain from watching your film?

To this question we do not have an answer. What we do hope is that the short film will also give pause for thought because of the sensitive topic it deals with and because of this change of perspective that the protagonists (or at least part of them) decide to bring about.

 

Can you share any interesting or memorable experiences you had while making the film?

We want to say a huge thank you to the actors who stepped perfectly into their parts, listening to us in everything even though it was our first real experience on a professional set. They never took us lightly, but it was a really enthusiastic collaboration that we will carry with us forever. Shooting with such professionals was very teaching for us and we want to thank them so much for all their support and for believing in our ideas from the first time we talked.

 

What are your aspirations as a filmmaker and where do you see yourself in the future?

Our aspirations are to continue to do this craft and do it better and better. AKTION T5 for us should not be an end point but should be a starting point.

It was a very important project with still a lot of things to explore in our opinion, which is why we also wrote a script for an eventual feature film, where certain dynamics are explored in depth. In addition to this project, we have written the script for another feature film that is being considered by a major production studio, which we hope to collaborate with in order to make it.

 

Are there any directors or films that have greatly influenced your work?

We have many directors whom we admire and from whom we try to steal that modicum of craft to approach their narrative power. One name above all is Michel Haneke. For this work however, we have taken as a reference a great director whom we love very much, namely P.T. Anderson and in particular his film "THE MASTER."

 

Have you participated in any other film festivals or competitions? If yes, what was your experience like?

The Short Film has participated in many national and international festivals, receiving numerous selections worldwide and also winning 10 times as best international short film.

We can only be more than satisfied.

 

Is there anything else you would like the audience and festival organizers to know about you or your film?

As mentioned before, the short film is about a very sensitive issue from as the title suggests. But we wanted to give a kind of evolution to that movement and that thought by having the characters make a change of perspectives, especially one, who pulls the strings of the whole thing while the others, some consciously and some unconsciously, are forced to adapt to this new way of seeing things. The short film is about 9 minutes in length, but in our opinion there are many issues that we deliberately wanted to leave ambiguous, but felt the need to delve into instead in a script for a feature film that we have already written and finished.