Fellini Interviewed

Filmmaking - Fellini

I met him at the Academy Awards in 1993, and told him I was making a parody of his movies, and he laughed and said,
"So am I."

I asked him for permission, essentially to make fun of him and his work, and he said, "Why not?"

His lovely, funny little wife, Giulietta Masina, was very sweet to me.

That night, Fellini would admonish her, in his speech from the dais, as he received a Special Oscar, "Giulietta, stop crying!"

A difficult request. I had a tear or two, as I remember.
They were so cute together.

Fellini could evoke strong emotion. That was his gift.

"I never thought I'd be a director; I lacked the temperament, the voice, the authority, the arrogance.... I thought that I would be a writer or a painter, or, better, a 'special correspondent.' But it turns out that I had all those defects! Because I became a director ... for a kind of pleasure. Out of an entomologist's curiosity. My films are films of expression."

-- Federico Fellini,
interviewed by Toni Maraini, translated by A. K. Bierman, 1994

Express he did, like a deep dream. What a gifted man, an incredible talent. Why didn't he move to Hollywood, and work here? There were offers, of course. He says the deciding factor was quality of life, and who can argue?

"I simply cannot imagine leading my army into my creative battles in any other way than my own. What good is money in exchange for giving up my independence, my friends, my Roman restaurants, my crazy Italian people, traffic at rush hour by the Colosseum? I would have made money and lost my joy of life. And that's all filming has been about for me: joy of life, battle of life, comedy of life, fascination of life. Life! Life! Life!"

-- Federico Fellini,
interviewed by Lisalotte Mullauer, 1993


When Fellini died later that year, I set my parody aside,
authorized or not. Perhaps I'll pick it up again.

Sam Longoria
UPDATE 2 March 2018

It's time. And almost past! I'm going through footage. I'm sorting.
I'm putting this one out there. Look for it in some months.

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FilmmakingGuido Folino
Sam Longoria
Federico Fellini