Chiara Campara’s documentary project “Photofinish” screened at Festival dei Popoli, Bergamo Film Meeting, Filmmaker Festival, and Milano Film Festival, and her doc “Sotterranea” screened at Visioni dal Mondo. “Temping Promises” is her debut feature.
“Tempting Promises” will premiere at the 2018 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on April 6. The film is co-directed by Lorenzo Faggi.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
CC: “Tempting Promises” tells the story of a small village in the Italian Alps preparing to host a huge international event: the world annual meeting of Wikipedia volunteers.
It’s the story of an isolated world that tries to open up to modernity in different ways, and has to face the challenges that come with it.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
CC: I am always drawn to stories coming from the margins, stories that bring us far from the center in almost forgotten places. I think that despite them being seemingly irrelevant they can show us so much about the world we live in.
When I first went to visit the village and got to know some of the people who where living there I immediately sensed that there was a story to tell. In the village where Wikimania would take place in a year’s time a refugee center was installed in an old hotel. This meant that the same small mountain town was hosting two very different kind of guests: the online Wikipedian community with volunteers coming from all around the world and the Asian and African refugees, who not long before had been rescued in the middle of the Mediterranean sea.
The village became a sort of social laboratory and had to confront with the different faces of opening to modernity and its changes without losing soul and identity.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
CC: We kept asking ourselves questions during the writing and the making of the movie about how life has been changing and will change in places like Esino Lario, and about all the contradictions, efforts, and advantages which come with modern times.
None of these questions has found an answer yet. We did not want to give one. I would be happy if the audience leaves asking themselves some of these questions.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
CC: This is a choral story. There are some main characters, but the focus we wanted to keep is on the community and its emotional movements, so to find the right balance among characters, themes, storylines was the hardest challenge.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
CC: The film is a micro-budget movie. We received some production funds from the Italian Ministry of Culture and the support and help from Lab 80 film, who produced the documentary.
The crew and the production team was very small and everyone had to adapt, as shooting and editing have been quite a long process.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Full Frame?
CC: I am really happy and grateful to have the movie play in this amazing selection. I am even more happy to show this film so far from where it was conceived and shot, as I am convinced this is a universal story and can speak to a broad international audience.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
CC: I don’t know. Maybe I don’t receive much advice, or I simply do not listen to the advice that I get.
I can only remember one thing a person said to me while we where preparing the shooting: “You don’t learn if you lose — you only learn if you win, and then you actually can realize what you have planned.”
I think this is simultaneously the best and worst advice I received during this project.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
CC: The only thing I can suggest is to work hard and believe in your voice.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
CC: “Toni Erdmann” by Maren Ade is the best woman-directed film I saw in the last few years. It combines sensitivity, humor, and a deep understanding of human relationships. Plus, the father is one of the best characters I’ve seen on screen lately.
W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women — and some men — in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?
CC: I think this is a very important and delicate moment for women in the film industry. Many different themes are being discussed today, from widespread harassment to disparity of treatment, power and equal pay, and work conditions, to the lack of stories told by women.
Besides the crimes which have made the headlines in the news there is a major cultural shift going on. Obviously this is something much bigger than the film industry — it involves every aspect of society. But cinema is crucial as a means through which society is portrayed and as an important instrument of reflection.
It is time to take this challenge seriously and to go on with the fight and discussion, knowing that with achievements come always responsibility.
