Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘Night is an Odd Day’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?
I can't say if there was a specific moment in my life when I learned how to make films. I just know that I grew up surrounded by my father's passion, a doctor who always filled our home with videotapes and DVDs. It was from him that I received a film education, always in tune with the stage of life I was in. Right after high school, I began my university career, also in the healthcare field, until some events happened that made me realize we are not eternal and that life can change in an instant. In that moment, something inside me clicked, making me think that what I had always experienced as a spectator could perhaps, in some strange way, become my profession as well. So, with some savings I had set aside, I bought my first DSLR, my first pair of lenses, and I began to have fun with the language, with framing composition, and slowly, I started to delve deeper into the world of stories, their rules, their genres. Then, in 2015, I left my home in the province near Naples to move to Rome, where I started studying Cinema, experimenting with many friends who had a great desire to create. Thanks to a series of fortunate events, Carmen Bagalà and I founded our film production company in February 2023: Calamazú, of which “Night is an Odd Day” is the first production.
Tell us about ‘Night is an Odd Day’. How do you describe it?
To me, it's a dramatic thriller centered around the theme of awareness, the only tool that makes it possible to name and face one's fears. It’s a film where nothing is as it seems, where all the characters are missing a part of themselves; and it is precisely in these absences that the heart of the narrative lies. Because without the odd days, we can't truly appreciate the even days. In Naples, they say that odd days are the ones where things go wrong, where nothing good happens; while even days are full, satisfying, and truly fulfilling.
Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.
Over time, I’ve realized that my favorite directors are those who have always been able to make the best use of the spectacular element of cinematic art. By spectacular, I don't strictly mean the technique that exaggerates everything, but rather that type of storytelling that leans toward wonder. It’s in the memory of the wonder I experienced as a child, watching films, that I try to return with the stories I’d like to tell. It’s very difficult for me to name just a few directors as models, because I feel that my idea of cinema is deeply marked by many masters like Spielberg, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Coppola, De Palma, but also especially Wenders, Fellini, Lynch, Garrone, Pietrangeli, and Refn. I believe that another common element among all my models is a great chameleon-like ability. Not in a negative sense, of course, but as the coexistence of their inner world, their complex and layered imagination that they’ve become spokespersons for, and an extraordinary storytelling ability that subdues the ego in the face of a story that needs to be told and seen exactly as it is. Another huge reference for me is Eduardo De Filippo, a giant of 20thcentury theater history.
If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?
I have to say that I’m a very fortunate director because “Night is an Odd Day” was a short film with a really high budget. It was the first production by Calamazú, and from its earliest days, it benefited from meticulous attention in all aspects, especially in production. It’s a short film where we allowed ourselves the luxury of not making sacrifices, but this was only possible thanks to the care Carmen dedicated to a story that she also evidently considered essential. I believe this is the greatest fortune, which then led to the possibility of securing the budget we needed for the kind of story we had in mind. It was also wonderful, among other things, to receive support from the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Campania region, the land where I was born and raised. I hope that the future will bring us more ideas and stories that can inspire reflection and be shared: this is the only tool we have to reach the budgets we all aspire to.
Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?
I believe that the most delicate phase, and where a crucial part of the game is truly played in the making of a film, is the preparation phase. We prepared everything down to the smallest details, and we had what is called a 'locked script,' meaning a precise blueprint of the short film’s final edit. This allowed us to perfectly schedule the eight days on set, but also to anticipate all the problems we might encounter and, for each of them, already have multiple solutions ready. With this framework, the film’s structure is strong even before shooting begins; during which, in my opinion, the most important thing is to orchestrate: starting with a big briefing at the beginning of the day, then giving room for the cast and crew’s sensitivities, and trusting those who are building the film alongside you.
What was the hardest part of making ‘Night is an Odd Day’.
For me, it was all quite difficult but unexpectedly simple. Let me explain: “Night is an Odd Day” is my first truly produced short film; all my previous works were made among friends, with nonexistent budgets, experimenting with what we had. At first, it was difficult for me to deal with the huge machine that sets in motion when there are 40 people working together on the set of your short film. I felt the weight of responsibility, but at the same time, I was infinitely grateful to all of them and to those who made it possible for all these people to be working on that story that, until then, existed only in my head. This thought troubled me at the beginning of each day, but fortunately, after half an hour on set, I got used to it, almost as if I were learning to ride a bike again, day by day, not being afraid, trusting everything around me, and not fearing the unexpected, but rather embracing it because it is part of life and, therefore, must inevitably be part of cinema as well.
If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?
We are about to open the operational headquarters of Calamazú in Rome, a storefront that will host our offices and editing room, but it will also be a space for creative sharing and a place to bring many unmissable ideas and events to life. I will definitely dedicate my near future to taking care, alongside Carmen, of the production company we are growing with so much love and dedication. As for future projects, there are always many ideas, but it’s right to wait for more precise production developments before starting to discuss them in concrete terms. I can say that at the moment I am focusing on an idea for a feature film that deals with the human, the divine, and the agreements we make to try to never disappoint anyone.
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