ANDRON press conference

PRESS CONFERENCE

(An interpreter was obviously translating from Emglish to Italian and vice versa)

Finally the press conference started. Alessio, the host, caught everybody’s attention when he called Francesco Cinquemani, the director, up on the stage, and the entire (or almost) cast followed. Alessio said that Andron is in its fourth week of production and that producers Monika Bacardi and Andrea Iervolino were there to introduce the press conference and to talk about the film, and also that, later on, director Francesco Cinquemani and the cast would speak too.

Andrea Iervolino started by thanking journalists and photographers for coming, despite the recent engagements with the Venice Film Festival.

Andron it’s the third movie co-produced by Italy and America, shot in Italy. The goal is to promote Italian cinema overseas, by creating a product that’s completely Italian, made in Italy, but shot in English and then distributed around the world.

They want to prove that Italy can create something that can be easily distributed elsewhere. This of course requires many sacrifices.

Iervolino then introduced Monika Bacardi and she basically agreed with what he’d said, and added that she’s very glad to have been able to shoot this film.

Iervolino then said that the movie was first shot in Malta and then in Rome. The shooting in Canada only lasted two days and was mostly a "trial" for the visual effects. Those two days in Canada were dedicated to the special effects for the movie, special effects which will be handled by Michael Kowalski, who worked on "The Amazing Spiderman", "Hulk" and the "Twilight" saga.

It was then time for director Francesco Cinquemani to speak, and he thanked both Monika Bacardi and Andrea Iervolino for the chance to shoot Andron, he also said that they are the only producers in Italy willing to develop this genre of films, this kind of product. A product that’s truly international. "This movie was written in 9 different Countries and its cast includes 9 actors of different nationality. Each Country where I wrote a third of this movie is represented here at this table today and in the movie itself. These Countries are Italy, with Marco Conte, USA with Gale Harold, Ireland with Antonia Campbell Hughes , UK with Michelle Ryan, Francie with Alex Martin, England again with Skin, and then we have a mix ...half-Italian half-American with Gaia Scodellaro, we even have Kazakistan with Korlan Madi, Italiy once again, even if she’s not completely Italian, with Elettra Mallaby, Spain with Jon Kortajarena and ... I think that’s all, isn’t it? *he pretends to forget* Oh yeah, there’s also Leo Howard, USA. *laughs*

Canada, represented by Clara Pasieka, Danny Glover and Alec Baldwin, wasn’t at the conference but the actors had been announced already. And then there were also actors coming from Malta and many more from Italy.

Francesco Cinquemani went on saying: "Usually in this genre of film the focus rests on one or two main characters and everyone else has a secondary role.. in our film everybody is a main character, it’s a choral movie, this is the reason why we believe this movie to be structurally different from what you’re used to in this genre of cinema. I want to thank Monika and Andrea once more because this is not a very conventional movie. The audience will decide for themselves if the movie is a good one or not, but it’s definitely something you never saw before."

Cinquemani also added: "And it’s thanks to all of them because they’re a fantastic group of actors!"

Question from the audience:

What do you mean with "unconventional"?

Answer: The film uses an unusual narrative structure, it’s not canonical or classical, there isn’t a specific main character; the movie it’s different in the way it’s built, written, shot … uhm… but you should see it to understand; it doesn’t adhere with the canonical American script.. it’s a product that’s strictly... European; but it’s entertainment... so yes, it’s peculiar...but it’s also a movie with very different genres, different souls: thriller, action, sci-fi but also a more introspective component, it can be read in different ways... but you really should just see it! It’s basically a sci-fi movie, it’s entertainment, we just wanted to fuse all of these different things together, ok?"

Andrea Iervolino spoke again and he tried to explain how in this film every character has a history, a background that will be present in the whole film. Even if the script is not what is generally required from American distribution (one main character..), it’s a very good script. It also calls for a sequel and maybe even for a trilogy...hopefully it’ll work out.

Francesco Cinquemani also confirmed that the movie has been thought out as part of a trilogy.

Question: I’d like to ask Andrea and Francesco if you can speak about the plot, just to give us an idea. Where did you shoot in Rome?

Answer: "About the plot... it’s about a group of people... you can read everything in the little resume (he pointed to the program prepared for the press conference)… it’s about a group of people that find themselves in a place with no exits.. a huge labyrinth of rooms, corridors... very mysterious.. and they don’t even know their own names. They undertake a journey of discovery to find their own selves and to understand what happened to them. This is the basic plot... to say more would mean to spoil the film. Second thing... " Francesco was interrupted by a voice not clearly understandable. But the director’s answer was clear: "There are signals, symbols .. symbols to decript.. many things you’ll have to understand. And speaking of questions.. " Cinquemani referred to The Sixth Sense as an example here, "if I were to tell you: that’s a movie about a guy who died...*laughs*… do you get my point? "A film about a guy who died" (meaning, if we’d have known from the start that Bruce Willis’ character in the movie is dead so would have been the surprise and the shocking twist.) Basically.. I can’t tell you much else or I’d ruin the film, it’s full of twists and turns.. I’d like for the audience to be just as overwhlmed as the characters are... that’s why the movie is structured as it is... changes perspectives and there are twists... so to say more... would be... "

Andrea Iervolino intervened (to answer the part of the question about "where the movie was shot") and said that the two days of shooting in Canada with Danny Glover and Clara Pasieka (seen in the latest Cronemberg movie) wasn’t a real shooting, or even conventional, but just a trial for the visual effects. Those two days in Canada where spent with the technicians that will later on work on the special effects along with the Italian and local staff.

Cinquemani then said: "We’re still shooting the movie and we have more or less 250 special effects in the film, a huge amount, just to say… everything you’ll see around Danny Glover it’s not there for real.. it was shot on a green screen at an angle of 360°.. with the same technique employed in Gravity (with Sandra Bullock)... it’s a whole, and a previously unseen, new level for an Italian movie. No other Italian movie ever... " the director was interrupted by Iervolino who joked: "Come on, don’t be so modest.." *everybody laughed* and afterwards Cinquemani continued: "No! I’m just saying that what we tried to do... we’ll see if we were successful... but what we tried to do had never been attempted in an Italian movie.. that’s it.. It’s possible I’ll get it wrong ..but I’m trying!!"

Iervolino spoke again and he thanked Malta, but he also underlined the fact that 65 per cent of the film is shot in Italy; they would have liked to shoot everything in our Country, but to do that some of the appropriate locations would have had to be built in a studio and the costs would have exceeded the budget .

Third question for the director: "The movie The Maze by Wes Ball will be released in September and I was wondering if you took that into account... if maybe we’re about to witness a new cycle in cinema that recalls the mitical image of the labyrinth... and also I’d like you to tell us how it is to work with an international cast, and how do you give directives to actors at this level. Thank you."

The answer: "Ok... when I wrote the film I had no idea, I was ignorant I admit it, since there’s also a series of novels for teenagers.. our film it’s not for teens, it doesn’t have the same target as Twilight, while The Maze does since it’s based on that series of novels similar to Twilight . When I realized that was also about a labyrinth, I bought the book, I read it, and when I realized it had nothing to do with our film, I relaxed. I didn’t read the whole book because it wasn’t that good in my opinion. Anyway, that other movie about a labyrinth sounds good, but we..just to give an example.. they’re completely on the outside while we are on the inside, the structure is totally different and so is the story.. what more could I say? The labyrinth wasn’t invented by Americans, it existed for millennia... I can tell you what inspired our movie, not the other one.
Our movie was born after a series of happenings, I love the genre, and I’ve loved cinema since I was a journalist. I wrote editorials in favor of genre movies; the whole world was making genre movies except Italians. We only had two genres, comedy and art films. That was all. Art film is not even a genre but a more or less melodramatic sort of movie. Since this was a battle I fought for years, for my integrity, when I had the chance to actually do a genre film.. I just did it! So I found two producers who also love the genre – I won’t thank you two again, enough is enough – and everything... basically there’s everything I imagined in this movie, you will find all of that and also things I didn’t even know I put in there, but I also wanted it to be original, I saw lots of things, read a lot.. but I don’t want to make copies."

Another question (asked by Cristina!): "This movie has a fantastic soul, and I would like to know what movies inspired you in both modern and classic cinema. And then to Gale - I am a fan of your work - I wanted to ask how it felt to work on this project and your opinion on it."

Answer: "There’s a bit of everything in it. Everything I loved in the past: consciously or sub-consciously... you’ll find... let’s see... "THX 1138" by Lucas, "The Matrix", "The Cube", a lot of things... but nothing has been copied from those. Obviously I share the same passion as those people who love the same genre..so well.. I hope it’s an original piece... but you will be the judge of it!"

At this point someone (without a microphone) asked about the budget. Andrea Iervolino answered saying that since this is a co-production with a small English company, he cannot divulge informations about a few things, budget included, before the release of the movie. All he could tell was that, for an Italian movie, it has a considerable budget.

Cinquemani started again: "There was also the question about our ‘Fantastic’ cast!

And then, finally, Gale answered, too: "Well it was an extraordinary experience because I had the privilege to work with Francesco and with all these amazing actors you can see here. And about the feelings this movie gave me, well, as Francesco said before, these stories... this is a very peculiar story.. the characters have no idea how they got there, where they are... and that was exactly how we all felt, too... or at least this was my own experience, and it made me think ... about this... that maybe inside of ourselves, we don’t know where we are.. so it was a weird experience.. there’s no other way to describe it... it was a peculiar journey that made me think... and that’s what you’ll see on the screen."

Cinquemani then said he wanted the other actors to speak, too.

Mauro: "What can I say? It was an honor for me to work on this... I want to thank Francesco, Monika and Andrea for the chance of being in this cast... not only a stellar cast like the press said... but a group of stellar people... everyone’s amazing. I learned a lot from them... and I had so much fun... that’s the most important thing. Thanks, everyone! "

Antonia: She agreed with Gale and said that working on this movie was definitely a very peculiar experience. She met Francesco and spoke with him, and she was impressed by the suggestions and by the things the movie wanted to tell. She said this is an unique movie, different from everything else. It’s possible that it’ll be also different from what people expect by a sci-fi movie, a genre movie, because it shows emotions that often aren’t present in sci-fi movies. It was also a joy to be able to work with this amazing group of actors, and with the crew and the tech people who, as said before, come from different Countries and different cultures, so this was a truly enriching experience for her because she was able to get to know so many different personalities.

Michelle: "There was such a strong collaboration on set.. we help one another so much... like never before on a set, and this is because of Francesco, too. He allowed all of us to speak our minds and listened to our inputs and opinions.. and that’s not something that happens very often.. directors don’t really like to receive inputs from the actors, but Francesco listened to everyone and asked everyone’s opinion. This was such a fun adventure! Everyone was so generous! We gave our best and Leo’s enthusiasm was infectuous. It was also a great adventure because of, like everyone said, the special effects, the green screen and I truly believe this will be an unique movie and a really good one: the audience will be the judge of it, obviously, but from what I experienced I believe it’ll be extraordinary. Basically.. it was an adventure and I hope the fun and the joy will continue to be the same on set."

Alex: Buongiorno! I speak some Italian... (he said all this in Italian).

(then his words were translated for us) Well, there’s not much more to add to what that’s already been said.. I can only say that I found a new family in these people. It was a pleasure and a honor, there was such a special atmosphere... it’s really like we’re family now.. and like we said, we all come from different places so this was a rare opportunity... to work with people from different Countries and cultures. And Francesco believes so much in this project, and we all do, too.. so we did our absolute best.. we truly worked together.

Cinquemani added: "I’d like... Since Alex is very modest, I’d like to point out that... not only he’s so very available, but he also has a great heart... and everyone else too... and I can’t say much because I always get emotional when talking about these things... But I need to say that... not only Alex worked very hard on this movie... but he is one of the best stuntmen alive in my opinion. He coreographed fighting scenes that you’ve never seen before, I’d say... and he didn’t talk about this but he gave all he had for this film and he deserves to be recognized for it.

Skin: "I was trying to think about how to define this film. It’s like putting together bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, the Beatles, ACDC in the same recording studio... with a director like Francesco in charge of the project. It’s an unique film, speaking from different levels, different genres... and it’s my first film, my first experience as an actress, and I have to say… Francesco, you know I love you... but you kept giving me pages upon pages to memorize and for a beginner it wasn’t at all easy! Anyway, this one was for me an even more extraordinary experience than it was for the others.. because they’re all actors, it was a first for me and in such a peculiar movie, and I have to say that Francesco and the whole cast helped me a lot... they gave me also very practical suggestions, like: how do you show that you’ve been electrically shot? They immediately showed me how to do that... they helped me that way all the time... so they said it was an extraordinary experience ..but it was even more so for me.. this one definitely is the best album I ever recorded!

Gaia: Good morning everyone.. ehm.. I feel so very lucky.. I come from webseries, I worked on television... I’m just starting, and to have this opportunity.. well I was so very lucky. Working with this cast was crazy.. I felt so safe..I could ask everything and they would answer and help me out... I’d never worked like that before.. it was an amazing experience.

Korlan: "Thank you everyone!" Korlan also said that everyone helped the others and that it was a great collaboration! "Amazing experience!"

Francesco Cinquemani intervened and pointed put that this will be the very first time we’ll see Korlan on the big screen, she had never acted before. He also pointed out that he was getting desperate because he couldn’t find an actress that fit that role.. and then a friend of his pointed her out and as soon as he saw her, he realized she’d be perfect for the role. "She’s wonderful! And Mauro.. for Mauro’s role I saw 150 people.." he wanted an Italian actor for that role but he had to see 150 of them before he was able to choose..

Elettra: "I also have to point out how great it was to work with this cast.. Francesco has such an amazing imagination.. and it was wonderful to see all that come to life and get inside the heads and the hearts of everyone else.. and the people... it was so great to be with them. We spent so much time together.. we gave our all."

Jon: "Well it was a wonderful experience for me, too, I felt safe and protected, and free to be creative... because as we said before, Francesco gave us space, listened to us and let us free to express our creativity..so if I can express an opinion.. I think this will be a truly amazing movie."

Leo: "Everybody spoke about collaboration, about all the passion and the heart that went in this movie film, and no one spoke about tears and blood... because, let’s face it, it was hard... somebody even broke a bone.."

Everyone looked towards Gale who tried to cover up his broken fingers! *LAUGHS*

"..no one said that but I’m here to speak the truth! It was a fenomenal experience, like they all said... everyone worked hard... we were a team, and we brought life to the set... and that allowed us to do what we did. About Francesco I wanted to say one thing... he has a spark in his eye... I don’t know if he’s extraordinarily clever or just crazy.. he always wants to break the rules... the traditional rules of cinema... and I loved this because it showed great bravery, he has the will, the courage.. and he’s crazy enough to go against these rules, to make something new and I think this could be the future of cinema... so thanks again for this wonderful opportunity.. thank you everyone for the experience." Then he spoke in Italian and said: VI AMO TUTTI! (I love everyone!)

There was still time for a few more questions... someone asked about the title, "Andron," saying that in Greek the word means "a place just for men."

Francesco Cinquemani answered saying: "but the word means "corridor" in Latin.. I wanted an evocative word... to associate with everything we’ve talked about before... something with a concrete meaning, that’s why corridor was fitting... the labyrinth is full of aisles, and at the same time I wanted a link with something mythical, because there’s also a series of very classic, ancient elements... When you’ll watch the movie you’ll see that, even if it is very modern.. I also wanted to create something full of ancient elements. Plus, the word Andron sounds good in English....and you’ll see what exactly Andron is in the movie!"

Another question.. this time for Gale (and it was a very good question, in my opinion).

What’s the difference between an American production and an Italian one?

Answer: Well eh... the main difference is that the food is way better here. Italian food is definitely better but joking aside, this has always been my dream, I always wanted to come to Italy, to visit Italy and to work in Italy.. so being part of this film was a dream come true, and many times when I was in front of the buffet I asked myself: "am I really here or am I still dreaming? " And also, what the film is about, the story that wasn’t exactly apparent, it wasn’t straight forward, it was a mix between dream and reality, so I thought, "I’m at work, there’s the director, the actors all around me.. yeah, I’m working.. " but sometimes it was hard to draw a line between what I was dreaming of and what I was doing.. anyway.. yes it was a dream come true.. and did I tell you I love the food? To be honest it was like getting an early Christmas present, or almost as if it’s Christmas every day... you wake up every morning and you find Christmas presents waiting for you. To work in Italy it’s like getting a golden jewel full of diamonds, that’s how it is. It was an extraordinary experience, to spend time with the director, the producers, this amazing Italian actor sitting beside me (he was talking about Mauro) ..yeah, basically it’s a dream, not sure if I expressed enough how much I loved working here in Italy."

Cinquemani spoke right after Gale finished, and said: "boy, he’s still in character... I think I should be worried...*laughs* Just wanted to say that Gale knows our cinema, the one we love, our brand of cinema, the traditional one, and he knows it better than, I’d say, at least 80 per cent of Italian actors and directors.. he’s passionate about Italian cinema."

Everything ended with Doctor De Luca awarding Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi for best production of an Italian movie in another Country. They gave them the award.

At the end of the conference, the guests went in the nearby garden to enjoy a light lunch. Everybody was running away, but we stayed behind because Gale was still there and was being interviewed. We watched him for a while .. and it was so obvious that the person interviewing him was making him nervous.

After this unpleasant moment, Gale came to talk with us (he seemed very tired to me), he high-fived first Serena then me, and we chatted for a bit. I told him I was going to write this report and that I was relieved that for once people were speaking italian.. meaning: for the first time I wouldn’t have problems reporting what had been said. I think he saw me taking notes during the conference!

He was smiling a lot …and he seemed happy that we’d made the trip to come there too!

Everything happened very quickly.. he had to run because they had to go back on set and resume shooting the movie. He went out, where the light lunch was taking place, spoke with Monika Bacardi for a while and then disappeared.

Meeting Gale is amazing... I love being able to speak with him.. .. even if, to be honest, it’s very hard for me; he’s shy.. but I am too. Because of this, unfortunately, I’m never able to tell him everything I’d like. This pains me a lot.

But speaking with Gale wasn’t the only highlight.. I spoke with so many other people.. like Alessio... Mauro, Jon... and the man who most of all impressed me: Francesco Cinquemani. I won’t tell you everything we talked about to respect his privacy, but I will tell you that he is a wonderful person and that he has known Gale for a while. He spoke very fondly of him and told us that he wrote Andron with Gale in mind. I’m so very impressed about it. We also thanked him because he gave us, Italian fans, this wonderful chance: buy a ticket and go see Gale on the big screen.

We told Cinquemani that we also went to Locarno just to see Thirst, because we had no idea we would see Gale there, too. "I was the one who sent him to Locarno.. I had to meet him there, too, but in the end I couldn’t make it...but I wanted him to show up!" Surprised, we just stared at Francesco for a while before thanking him profusely again!

Before leaving us to go back on set, he said that they still have to finish shooting.. then they would need a few more months for the post production and other months to add the special effects. I doubt we’ll see the movie before the next year but maybe it’ll come out during summer. Who knows?

We went around to find something to eat and we met a wonderful girl, Cristina, who then gave us permission to post her own picture with Gale that you can see in the gallery!

After exchanging numbers with Cristina, we walked back towards the subway, said goodbye to Felicity and then we went back home, all happy and accomplished.

This was another great experience for me.. Everyone was amazing.. and I have to confess that I got attached to every single member of the cast (director and producers included), and I’m sure this will be a truly remarkable movie that I can’t wait to be able to see.



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