Interview with Antonio Zeccola - "Bella Vista"

I catch Antonio Zeccola after his Saturday arvo soccer match. Much hilarity ensues as we discuss that clichéd image of the soccer-ball-toting Italian ex-pat. More seriously, though, the Italian Film Festival director confesses that soccer is his single break from the hard slog of festival organising. “Apart from this three hour break on a Saturday I am thinking about the festival 24/7. It’s always on my mind and there is just so much to do.”

Zeecola’s entire year is based around his pursuit of fine Italian Cinema, with a schedule guaranteed to make any cinephile salivate. “There’s a lot of research that we do, plus I attend the Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto film festivals every year and that’s where I watch all the films and make the selection from what I’ve watched, before I approach the producers and formulate the programme,” he explains. “I’m looking for good films, but also I want to make sure they’re all different; not all about the mafia, or family, or anything like that. I also try to create a story within each festival. It’s like I’m saying ‘this contemporary Italy now,’ or, ‘this is how it was 1945,’ so there’s a message in each programme based on what I choose.”

This year, the festival’s underlying themes include a critique of Italy’s contemporary situation. “If we look just at the opening night film, Her Whole Life Ahead, it is a very sadly contemporary film,” Zeccola asserts. “It’s about a very creative, very smart young girl who passes all her exams with the highest accolades but still can’t get a job. She ends up working in a call centre and is forced to sell things that she is not interested in. This is only one example from the festival, but it connects to the message I’m trying to portray; there are so many qualified people in Italy who don’t have a job. In order to make a living they just have to do whatever they can do.” The director additionally recommends the political opera Il Divo, the period piece Wild Blood and the youthful drama Don’t Think About it. While Zeccola of course quick to add that there is “no bad film in the festival,” he does suggest that these selections will offer any film-goer a condensed summary of the variety on offer.

While it is by no means unusual to hear a festival director describe his current programme as the “best yet,” Zeccola’s words are lent gravity by the current resurgence in Italian cinema. “Since ten years ago, there’s been a resurgence of young directors who have been recounting stories that everyone wants to hear,” Zeccola agrees. “In Italy, up to 30% of audiences watch Italian films which is remarkable because, even in Europe, Hollywood rules. It’s not just happening in Italy, though, it’s also happening in Germany and France. That’s great because it shows that these people have been able to make films that local audiences want to see.

“What’s especially remarkable is that these films that have been very successful have not been blockbusters, they’ve just been made on ordinary budgets of five or six million Euros and they’ve made money back plus just in their own country, let alone elsewhere. Here in Australia we think that you need a lot of money to make great films and attract audiences, but I think Italy shows it’s possible on a lower budget. You just need a good story.”

If Italian audiences are enjoying Italian films, then Zeccola is convinced that others will too. He seems to evoke notion of civic duty when he explains why he feels so passionately about Australia’s international film festivals. “In the film industry, all over the world, we’re so dominated by Hollywood culture, but there is so much more. I guess what we’re trying to do here, through these festivals, is represent other cultures. I was born in Italy so there’s that extra connection in this particular instance, but as you would know, we run French and Israeli and Spanish festivals. In all of these we just seem to have this mission to cultivate and introduce different cultures to the Australian public.”

After eight years of success, he has no doubt that this festival will again draw in the crowds, in Perth and beyond. “When we started in 2000, our festival barely had half a dozen films and of course the number that people came was very small. Nonetheless, we were encouraged, because Italy continued to produce some amazing films and these films wouldn’t have be seen by Australians, be they of Italian origin or just cinephiles or ‘Italiaphiles,’ unless this festival was around. And the festival has continued to grow each year. This year, over in Melbourne and Sydney, we’ve already seen attendance increase by about 20 or 30 percent, which is remarkable.”

A fine turn-out inevitably eases the hard work involved in reaching that point, and Zeccola adamantly agrees. “I’ve been doing this for so many years now, and there’s still a personal satisfaction in walking into an auditorium and seeing it full. I especially love trying to gauge the audience, and tell whether they’re laughing, or whether you can hear a pin drop, or whether they’re restless. And I really love that part of it. I think it’s in my blood, I’ve been doing it for decade and I still love it, and I’m sure I’m going to love it for as long as I do it.”