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BERLINALE 2022 Panorama

Chiara Bellosi • Director of Swing Ride

“We meet a lot of people, we have irreplaceable individuals around us, but we’re always on our own when faced with real choices”

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- BERLINALE 2022: The Italian director’s film follows a young female protagonist who meets a new friend who helps her to grow

Chiara Bellosi • Director of Swing Ride
(© Rosario Cinque)

On the heels of Ordinary Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Italian director Chiara Bellosi is returning to the Berlinale by way of its Panorama section with Swing Ride [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Chiara Bellosi
film profile
]
, which revisits themes of sorority and the quest for personal freedom. The director chatted to us about her characters and the atmosphere she sought to create in her film.

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Cineuropa: Where did the idea for the film come from?
Chiara Bellosi: It wasn’t actually my idea because the screenplay already existed and was in the hands of my production company Tempesta, who suggested I direct the film. The screenplay was written by Maria Teresa Venditti and Luca De Bei. I grew so attached to the characters of Amanda and Benedetta, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to have them.

How did you develop the two roles?
The general idea was to imagine the story as a fairy tale. A naturalist fairy tale in a very real world, but where the character of Benedetta and the place where she lives are slightly detached from our own time, our modern era. She’s always a bit behind: the setting is on the outskirts of a town, in a house with a huge lawn out front which separates them from everything else. Another key moment of transition was transforming Amanda and Benedetta’s relationship so that it became more of a sisterhood, even if it’s based on a crush experienced by Benedetta. In fact, all the characters, adults included, were devised as if they too had a child still alive inside of them.

How did you find your Benedetta?
A whole series of things we would usually do, “street casting” for example, either weren’t an option or were very difficult to organise as a result of Covid and the various closures. But we contacted various schools and associations and lots of girls sent us “self-tapes”. This was how we met a few of them, including Gaia Di Pietro who became Benedetta.

How did you prepare Gaia for the role?
It was crucial for us to get to know her and spend as much time with her as possible. Then we worked on specific scenes and situations which arise in the film, whilst preserving some of Gaia’s personal traits. Her past was similar to Benedetta’s in several respects. We tried to bring the two sides together: that of the character and that of Gaia.

What is it about fairground rides that fascinates you? Did you carry out any specific research?
I didn’t research any one thing in particular but amusement parks have always been fascinating but also frightening places for me. I kept this contrast in mind. Then we decided that ours would be a slightly beat-up amusement park, with rides showing years of wear and tear. We were lucky enough to find such rides, which we had on set with us and which we kept with us throughout the entire production process.

Was it clear from the outside that the film would be open-ended?
The film had a different ending to begin with. But then, as we worked together on the movie, we ended up with this version which sees Benedetta ready to tackle the world with new awareness.

What is the most important message you hope to convey with this film?
Ultimately, Benedetta grows. All of the people we meet in life are fundamental in terms of how we learn to tackle it. Meeting Amanda proves crucial for Benedetta. But she herself is strong and this strength is the only thing she can count on. It’s the same for all of us. We meet a lot of people, we have irreplaceable individuals around us, but we’re always alone when faced with real choices. That’s why it’s important that such awareness, courage and, occasionally, recklessness, come from within us, that these things are ultimately ours. It gives us a lot of freedom. I like to think that Benedetta’s strength gives her the freedom to choose what to experience and how to live.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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