Rogério Troiani Barbosa
Your project has entered our festival. What is your project about?
To talk about Shred, I will use the words of screenwriter Felipe Faim: "The film talks about human precariousness in a scenario that at first seems surreal; a half-empty room where a conformed gravedigger's trainee, a proud sausage maker, and a depressed publicist meet. It happens on the day of their birthday. Throughout the film, each one brings a point of view that, at first, may seem depressing. Still, each of these characters represents a large part of today's humanity, and, even in the face of every catastrophe and failure, these beings still love, drink Coca-Cola, and celebrate life – go figure."
What are your ambitions with your project?
This project is the embryo of a future feature film to be produced in 2024, deepening the issues of the three characters and their relationships with the people who surround them in the affective and work environments, always using the aesthetics of black and white and minimalist language.
Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
The script started unpretentious but, over time, became something captivating that involved the whole team due to the drama of the three characters. The result was a surprise by the tragicomic and dense language.
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
It's a film about ideas and values that engage everyone; it's not for a specific audience.
Why should distributors buy your film?
This discussion speaks of belonging, doubts, and contemporary questions, from the youngest to the most experienced person, that is, a great case for the audiovisual market.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
I like to work on specific aspects of humor, like sarcasm and irony, and that acidic humor has been lost these days, especially in Latin American cinema. I like to work in black and white so that people imagine possible colors, and black and white brings greater drama and enhance the acting, letting light and shadow do their work.
Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?
I´m not only a filmmaker but also an actor and casting coach. Cinema has always been present in my life since I was a child. I think of many day-to-day activities as unrolling in a movie, from cleaning the bathroom to the excitement of a goal crowd. For all these questions that the world brings us of contradiction, fear, and desire, I believe this gains more powerful dimensions on a screen, making us reflect on our human frailty.
Who is your role model?
Jim Jarmusch, Yajiro Ozu and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Which movies are your favorites? Why?
Strangers than Paradise and Paterson – the symbolic construction of the characters, the existential emptiness that inhabits them, and the way the film enhances the performances, making us realize that the actors are at ease on the scene and genuinely living that situation.
An autumn afternoon – the simplicity of the shooting, the static shots, and the poetics of the narrative.
Magnolia – the narrative construction about the idea of fate and chance and the complexity of the characters.
Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
The work of light and shadow in black and white brings a denser universe, narratives that are not fast where time, the shooting, and the actors' breath create the environment that the scene needs. Films that focus on the script and the actors' exchanges deal with simple themes that are the most complex. A camera that gains movement but without frenzy. A soundtrack that is not invasive.
Which topics interest you the most?
In the inconsistencies and contradictions of life, in human frailty.
What do you consider your most outstanding achievement in your career?
To be able to work with cinema in Brazil, with all the socio-political and economic adversities, where making cinema is very expensive and an activity still of the wealthier classes, and where the production and distribution are in the hands of a few.
What do you consider most important about filming?
The discussions it makes possible by being a mass product.
Which film technique of shooting do you consider the best?
Techniques that break patterns and rules, axis breaks, unexpected sound effects, and the use of fantastic realism.
How would you rate/What is your opinion about current filmmaking?
In Brazil, we do not have a film industry; we plan our movies waiting for governmental support or catching on a large production company. Therefore, we don´t have an established cinema production which significantly limits independent productions, making the production and distribution of these films limited and insufficient.
What can disappoint you in a movie?
Good actors in a bad script.
Who supports you in your film career?
I've been building partnerships with other professionals with a similar vision. Shred was born from one of these partnerships.
What are the reactions to your film? (opinion of spectators, film critics, friends, and family)
It's a movie starting to be exhibited now; I still need to get more to share.
Have you already visited any of the prestigious film festivals?
No.
What are your future plans in filmmaking carriere?
To produce in Brazil without being mainstream, or to use the mainstream industry in favor of productions that work more the simple stories, of the contradictions, antagonisms, fears, and desires with meaning.
To talk about Shred, I will use the words of screenwriter Felipe Faim: "The film talks about human precariousness in a scenario that at first seems surreal; a half-empty room where a conformed gravedigger's trainee, a proud sausage maker, and a depressed publicist meet. It happens on the day of their birthday. Throughout the film, each one brings a point of view that, at first, may seem depressing. Still, each of these characters represents a large part of today's humanity, and, even in the face of every catastrophe and failure, these beings still love, drink Coca-Cola, and celebrate life – go figure."
What are your ambitions with your project?
This project is the embryo of a future feature film to be produced in 2024, deepening the issues of the three characters and their relationships with the people who surround them in the affective and work environments, always using the aesthetics of black and white and minimalist language.
Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
The script started unpretentious but, over time, became something captivating that involved the whole team due to the drama of the three characters. The result was a surprise by the tragicomic and dense language.
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
It's a film about ideas and values that engage everyone; it's not for a specific audience.
Why should distributors buy your film?
This discussion speaks of belonging, doubts, and contemporary questions, from the youngest to the most experienced person, that is, a great case for the audiovisual market.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
I like to work on specific aspects of humor, like sarcasm and irony, and that acidic humor has been lost these days, especially in Latin American cinema. I like to work in black and white so that people imagine possible colors, and black and white brings greater drama and enhance the acting, letting light and shadow do their work.
Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?
I´m not only a filmmaker but also an actor and casting coach. Cinema has always been present in my life since I was a child. I think of many day-to-day activities as unrolling in a movie, from cleaning the bathroom to the excitement of a goal crowd. For all these questions that the world brings us of contradiction, fear, and desire, I believe this gains more powerful dimensions on a screen, making us reflect on our human frailty.
Who is your role model?
Jim Jarmusch, Yajiro Ozu and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Which movies are your favorites? Why?
Strangers than Paradise and Paterson – the symbolic construction of the characters, the existential emptiness that inhabits them, and the way the film enhances the performances, making us realize that the actors are at ease on the scene and genuinely living that situation.
An autumn afternoon – the simplicity of the shooting, the static shots, and the poetics of the narrative.
Magnolia – the narrative construction about the idea of fate and chance and the complexity of the characters.
Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
The work of light and shadow in black and white brings a denser universe, narratives that are not fast where time, the shooting, and the actors' breath create the environment that the scene needs. Films that focus on the script and the actors' exchanges deal with simple themes that are the most complex. A camera that gains movement but without frenzy. A soundtrack that is not invasive.
Which topics interest you the most?
In the inconsistencies and contradictions of life, in human frailty.
What do you consider your most outstanding achievement in your career?
To be able to work with cinema in Brazil, with all the socio-political and economic adversities, where making cinema is very expensive and an activity still of the wealthier classes, and where the production and distribution are in the hands of a few.
What do you consider most important about filming?
The discussions it makes possible by being a mass product.
Which film technique of shooting do you consider the best?
Techniques that break patterns and rules, axis breaks, unexpected sound effects, and the use of fantastic realism.
How would you rate/What is your opinion about current filmmaking?
In Brazil, we do not have a film industry; we plan our movies waiting for governmental support or catching on a large production company. Therefore, we don´t have an established cinema production which significantly limits independent productions, making the production and distribution of these films limited and insufficient.
What can disappoint you in a movie?
Good actors in a bad script.
Who supports you in your film career?
I've been building partnerships with other professionals with a similar vision. Shred was born from one of these partnerships.
What are the reactions to your film? (opinion of spectators, film critics, friends, and family)
It's a movie starting to be exhibited now; I still need to get more to share.
Have you already visited any of the prestigious film festivals?
No.
What are your future plans in filmmaking carriere?
To produce in Brazil without being mainstream, or to use the mainstream industry in favor of productions that work more the simple stories, of the contradictions, antagonisms, fears, and desires with meaning.
