About four years ago, in 2019, I started this crazy idea: asking people to write the title of their favorite film on a blackboard and then photographing them, trying to discover - through their reason for choosing the film - something more about them, a little piece of their life. In between, there was a pandemic, some lockdowns, and many months of social distancing, which prevented the Film People project from moving forward.
Then, things slowly returned to normal and this is how, today, the series has reached the remarkable quota of 200 portraits. In fact, 200 people have so far lent their faces to the project, and 200 people have had themselves photographed together with the title of their favorite film. Through the stories of these 200 people, we discovered many films that we didn’t know and many stories that struck us, including memories, hopes, considerations, and different moods. In fact, there is a bit of everything in the Film People project, from blockbusters to indie movies, from silent and animated films to films with the most modern special effects.
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#1 Giovanna, "Memento" (2000)
"It’s the movie that made me understand the relevance of the instant, but connected to the memory, I mean: how important is the perception of the instant that we live in but at the same time referred also to what we remember. “Carpe diem” is my motto, but it’s actually dilated and connected to what you have been. The first time I saw it, I’ve empathized with the protagonist, I forgot to follow the plot to focus on him, on his energies, and for me it’s rare because I’ve studied screenwriting at the Academy of Bari and usually I’m focused on the plot of the movies. “Perspective” is the key word, because I began to analyze it from a new point of view."
Boys, girls, men, and women: there are those who chose the film which, after the Second World War, allowed them to discover what cinema was, and those who saw in a film the same mechanisms of a society from which they too, like the protagonist, decided to move away. But in addition to those who have found themes close to their heart in a film or those who have identified with the characters to the point of wanting to live like them, there are above all those who have linked the title of a film to an episode in their life, to a nostalgic memory, to one’s childhood or adolescence. The power of Cinema.
#2 Jacopo, "Fight Club" (1999)
"My favorite movie. I’m not a violent guy, this aspect has nothing to do with me, but there is this self-destructive nature, this pushing yourself to your limit until you break, it’s something that fascinates me. I feel that there are these two sides of me always fighting, the rational side and the more impulsive one. I have a sort of inner Fight Club, we all want to be Tyler Durden, we all have him inside but we keep him under control because we don’t want him to come out. The first time I saw it I had just broken up with my first important girlfriend, I decided to see this movie and it was a revelation: every scene seemed to be telling me to grow up. I tattooed the quote 'It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything': we need to get rid of the superstructures that society imposes on us, fuck everything off and no longer have any constraints, this is in some way the reason why I chose to be an actor. So choose Tyler Durden and you won’t be wrong."
#3 Matteo, "Pulp Fiction" (1994)
"Among all the movies that I like, this is the one that made me understand that cinema can be not only something you can appreciate but it’s something to love. Three years ago I came to Rome to become film director and if it I hadn’t see Pulp Fiction maybe I would never have got out from Brianza."
There are so many influences that have flowed into this project. First of all, I studied cinema, which is perhaps my greatest passion, and I liked the idea of combining two things that I love very much: cinema and photography. This was definitely the spark. Then, also influenced by the beautiful "Humans of New York" project, I thought it would be interesting to discover, through the choice of the favorite film, the stories behind this choice, why a person wrote the title of one film rather than another. I believe that the choice of the favorite film can reveal a lot about the person portrayed: an intimate corner of his person, somehow a piece of his soul, so I liked this idea of discovering which film was behind the people I met.
#4 Federica, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)
"This movie gave the name to my alter ego, Sally Van Tassel: Sally is the doll in this movie, Van Tassel is Katrina in “Sleepy Hollow”, even if I am more Sally than Katrina. The first time I saw it I was at home and I thought that Sally was one of the most extraordinary, deep and at the same time light female character I’ve ever seen, and that her incapability of expressing herself was me. For this reason now Sally, through me, expresses herself on the stage."
#5 Alex, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
"This movie portrays an era where everything seems to follow different directions, in culture, in music, in rhythm, in energy. Frank-N-Furter has a backbone of experience drama, he could also be Macbeth, he could be whatever he wanted to be. It’s like a party, craziness, that you’d like to share with your friends, but you like to be your own secret, at the same time. Don’t dream it, be it: it’s a song from the movie, but it fits me perfectly."
Some stats? The most chosen films at the moment were Truffaut’s "The 400 Blows" and Zemeckis’ "Back to the Future", both at 4, but 165 different films were still chosen (always out of 200, obviously). You can find the complete ranking of films on the Film People project website, on the Movies page.
The director who has been chosen the most times? Quentin Tarantino, at 6 with four different films ("Pulp Fiction", "Reservoir Dogs", "Jackie Brown" and "Django Unchained"): like him, the only one to have had such a variety of different films was Stanley Kubrick (at 5 with four different films: "2001 A Space Odyssey", "Lolita", "A Clockwork Orange" and "Eyes Wide Shut").
#6 Mick, "Ghostbusters" (1984)
"I’m a math's tutor and even though I work in science, I think we need a bit of fantasy in our lives. My father recorded films on videocassette and once I found the one with a ghost on the cover: it all started from there. I love the intertwining of scientific studies and paranormal or fantastic world. And then there’s Bill Murray!"
#7 Francesco, "Jurassic Park" (1993)
"I chose this film because it’s the first one I saw in a movie theater and it opened a whole new world to me, it introduced me to the magnificent of the big screen. I still watch it gladly, it makes me feel like I was 13, in a dark theater, with some giant dinosaurs in front of me. Jurassic Park was the key that opened the doors to my love for cinema, I also have a t-shirt, I know it by heart."
The most loved decade, as expected, was the '80s, chosen 41 times (followed by the '00s of the new millennium at 38 and the '90s at 36). In any case, the films chosen range from 1932 to 2023: there really is something for all tastes.
#8 Francesco, "Blade Runner" (1982)
"This movie made me passionate about 3D graphics and special effects, so much that I pursued a career in this field for 10 years, more or less. Of all the jobs I did, graphics was the one that gave me more satisfactions and if I lived this beautiful experience I owe it to Blade Runner."
#9 Gianmaria, "Her" (2013)
"It’s the movie that made me understand how is possible to communicate with images, colors, cinematography, soundtrack. On the other hand I found emotional and sentimental affinities with the protagonist: in some situations that he lives, with some differences, I’ve seen myself, on some reflections, how the emotions resound in us, the relationship with others. These are all themes that I bring to my heart and I often come back to this movie."
#10 Dante, "Lost In Translation" (2003)
"I’ve chosen this movie for its aesthetic beauty, the cinematography, the slow pace story and the fact that it’s a romance. When I travel, every time I am on a airplane, I watch it because it’s always available to watch! And I feel the same when I go in a new place, I feel lost in translation! The first time I watched it I cried when the man says goodbye, it’s a genuine moment and it’s a mystery, because you can’t hear what he says. It’s beautiful."
#11 Federico, "Big Fish" (2003)
"Tim Burton is my favorite director, in his career he has always talked about outcasts and I, feeling like that, have always felt listened to. I chose this film because I am a dreamer, a romantic, an idealist, just like Edward Bloom, the protagonist. I also like writing, telling stories, and I like this thing of him of telling stories adorning them, embellishing them, because otherwise they wouldn’t be the same: my favorite scene is the one in which they tell to the son the story of when he was born, his face says everything."
#12 Maurizio, "Raging Bull" (1980)
"It’s one of the few movies that I can rewatch and I always like. I watched it for the first time alone, at night, and sometimes I watch it in the same way. When I don’t know what to watch and I want to see a movie that I like, I always pick this one or a couple of other movies."
#13 Paola, "The Goonies" (1985)
"It’s the most representative movie of my childhood, I chose it because I think it’s a formative film, it made me think a lot about the approach with a freak. It’s been educational seeing the friendship between Sloth and Chunk, it overturns the aesthetic vision: here the monster is not a monster, but the real monsters are others."
#14 Lucrezia,
"I went to the British Schools and once, when I was 8, they showed us this movie, obviously in the original language, during an afternoon where we ate peanut butter popcorn, that arrived appositely from England to make us live a typical British afternoon. My passion for foreign languages and for English was born that day, then I studied Languages and now I teach it. This movie really marked my working life. I showed it to my daughters and now we have a small ceramic Falcor in the living room."
#15 Benedetto, "Suspiria" (2018)
"This movie is part of my life, I am very passionate about witchy cinema, and therefore all the films about this topic. Suspiria is a sort of milestone of this kind of cinema, for its avant-garde style: I like the use of colors on the actresses’ faces. I think there is always a dark side to both teaching and learning, often hidden, but which should emerge more. I love the ending and Goblin’s soundtrack is also perfect."
#16 Mathilde, "Bagdad Cafe" (1987)
"I love the encounter between these two women, this German woman who doesn’t speak English and this African American woman, it’s an incredible encounter. This movie changed my vision of the world, I mean, when I saw it I was very young and I immediately understood that, even if a person comes from another country, he has another color or speaks another language, it’s possible to understand each other and share something. It was my mother who showed me this movie and I don’t know if she did it to teach me something, to show me the image of a strong woman, maybe yes. Since then I have greatly admired strong and independent women and I hope to have become one of them."
#17 Chiara, "The Thin Red Line" (1998)
"When I saw this movie I was at home and, even if it’s very long, I can’t stop watching: it gave me a sensation of connection not only with cinema, so with the beauty of what I was seeing, but with the idea of 'Oh my God, I’m alive, I’m in this world, I have to do something!!'"
#18 Fabrizio, "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso" (1988)
"I saw this movie in my senior year of high school when I still hadn’t decided whether to leave for college or stay, it would have been a sacrifice for my parents and, on the other hand, I wasn’t sure I really wanted it. This movie was one of the main reasons that made me decide to leave for university. Later, every time I’ve seen this movie, it gave me particular significant regarded life. And then it’s a wonderful film for several reasons, still now when I see an empty square I imagine that someone arrives and tells 'The square is mine, the square is mine!'"
#19 Giuseppe, "Jackie Brown" (1997)
"When I started working for a Swedish company I had to speak in English. I thought about taking a course, but I already knew English, I just needed to speak it and overcome my shyness. I am shy, introverted, so I thought of throwing myself into something that made me embarrassed, so I decided to take a theater course. At first I was shaking, but after a year I would go up on stage and feel at home, people were having fun, I was brilliant. They told me that, in their opinion, as a young man I dressed in a bizarre way, with weird hairstyles, they thought I was eccentric. Actually, at the time the only thing that characterized me was the flat cap, I took that hat from Samuel L. Jackson in this film and I chose it because that look has influenced my life a lot. His character has a very cool style for someone like me who came from the outskirts of Naples and the flat cap was very important for me in those years, when I walked into clubs with those strange hats, the others had an excuse to talk to me."
#20 Angelo, "Snatch" (2000)
"This film reflects my personality a lot because it’s varied, it changes often, it’s varied in the representation of the scenes, in the style, in the soundtrack. I am a person who gets tired of things easily, I always like to change, I have no fixations, I always want to do different things and the film represents a lot of this aspect of me. The first time I’ve seen it, I was immediately struck by the particulars, the details, the editing: for example, the character who calls from London wears socks with Union Jack or Benicio Del Toro’s sudden changes of clothes. Moreover, the story is funny, surprising and the soundtrack is magnificent: every now and then Mirwais’ 'Disco Science' plays in my head."
#21 Fabio, "Invincible" (2001)
"I don’t know why I chose this movie, maybe because it makes me think about a magic. In this film there is a travel, different aspects of the world, of life. Actually I don’t remember it very well, it’s more an irrational feeling. It has several dimensions: interior, exterior, sentimental, historical. It’s a sweet movie, I can watch it more times without be tired: I trust in Herzog."
#22 Sara, "City Of Angels" (1998)
"Free will is an important topic for me. How free are we to choose, really, even when we believe we have freedom of choice? How much was already written and how much can we choose? Just that, these are the themes that made me choose this movie: I’ve been always interested in reincarnation, about angels, so it’s not difficult to me to imagine an angel that falls and becomes human or an angel who cannot choose."
#23 Martina, "Annie Hall" (1977)
"The first time I saw it I was at home, on my couch, and while I was laughing I asked myself how could this movie know me so well: Alvy represents my male side and Annie, somehow, my female side. It was the first Woody Allen movie that I saw, since then he became my favorite director."
#24 Francesca, "Cléo From 5 To 7" (1962)
"I chose this movie as the opening of my film festival, Visionaer: every year we have an homage to a female director and last year we chose Agnes Varda, mother of the French New Wave. This is her second movie, it follows Cleo through the streets of Paris for two hours of her life: when I’ve seen it I would stay watching her life for more than 20.000 hours! I love the natural and enchanting way in which Agnes lead us in her protagonist’s life, it really touched me."
#25 Serena, "Closer" (2004)
"This movie represents my sentimental education: someone has Flaubert, someone Closer. In this film you can find all you need to know about relationships, either good or bad way. After seeing the movie, I read the play written by Marber. One of my dreams is to attend the play in a theatre."
#26 Marcel, "Good Bye Lenin!" (2003)
"Being a German born in 1988, a story like this touches me a lot. A beautiful story that helps to comprehend Germany today and explains a bit the feelings of German people. I live far from Germany for a lot of years and when I speak about German cinema with people, this is a movie that everybody knows, so for me it’s something familiar, with which I can identify myself."
#27 Chiara, "Jules And Jim" (1962)
"I love Truffaut a lot, he’s the director that made me love cinema. Like Jules and Jim, I’ve been thrilled by Jeanne Moreau, I really love her in this movie. Basically, it’s a film that breaks the rules, where there is neither winner nor loser, everybody suffers and rejoices in the same way. Then I’ve read the book too, it’s incredible how Truffaut keeps their poetry and its mood."
#28 Giovanni, "The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto De Sus Ojos)" (2009)
"This movie is a deep journey into the human soul, into the passions we live. It debates on three topics that I particularly care about: love, passing of time and absence. This film use these subjects as a way to enter human emotions and does it so gently, through looks, the unsaid. Above all, passing of time is a topic that really fascinates me, for several reasons."
#29 Nesligül, "The Double Life Of Veronique ( La Double Vie De Véronique)" (1991)
"I always remember the first time that I’ve seen it and the feelings that it gave to me and it brought to my body too: it touched my soul but it was also something physical. When I feel happy or I feel hopeless, whenever I feel something really intense, I watch this movie. Every time I see it, I think I see something different. I remember the first time that I’ve seen it, I was studying in Ankara, in Turkey, I can remember that the film had the same feelings I had in my life, the same atmosphere."
#30 Lorenzo, "All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre)" (1999)
"When I was a child I was enthralled by the movie poster, almost cubist, where there is this woman with large red lips. Later I saw the movie, it was the first time I saw a Pedro Almodovar film and I understood how fundamental our passions were, in our life, but above all our own authenticity, like Agrado says in the movie, in her monologue in the theater."
#31 Sonia, "Before Sunrise" (1995)
"I chose the first film of the trilogy, but all three are equally important to me. Growing up, the Linklater’s trilogy is a bit like it went along with my life. I’ve seen this movie in 2004 and, with the passing of the years, these characters reflect you, also because there’s been a film every decade. When you watch a movie, often it brings you back to to an old you who is not longer in that way, it takes you back in time, but growing up with the movies is something that upsets you a bit, it makes you feel understood. In these movies you find yourself in dynamics of couple that go beyond love. After watching “Before Sunrise” I went to Vienna to look for the locations of the movie, it’s been the first cine-tourism of my life!"
#32 Paolo, "Happiness" (1998)
"I still have a vivid memory of the impression he made on me, which was very strong. This movie collect very intimate stories of very normal people who, however, have something monstrous in this normality: sometimes normality crushes people and makes something truly poisonous come out, because normality is too narrow to us. People are pervaded by currents, by impulses, which often go beyond the boundaries of normality and if not channeled, sublimated, brought to the surface in a safe and controlled way, they can really turn against themselves or against others. Something terrible could happen at any moment."
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