When Alice Esposito was a young girl, growing up in Rome, her favorite hobby was going through her father’s photo album. She would go to her grandmother’s house and dig through the closet to find it, looking at her family’s history. It was then when she realized the power of photography; it could capture moments and be shared not just with people, but through time.
Initially, Esposito began as a photographer. Her artistry with a camera was evident from the beginning of her career. Now, she excels in both photography and film, and is known internationally for her work in both. As a filmmaker, she uses her photography knowledge to make each shot a piece of art. She understands every single aspect of a movie production, and this makes whatever she works on simply outstanding. There is no limit to what she can achieve.
“I’m a visual person. I communicate much better with images than words. Photography and film gave me this chance, the possibility of showing people things more powerful more permanent than words; being a professional photographer and filmmaker gives me this power of communication,” said Esposito.
With her artistic film Thend, Esposito’s work was seen on a world stage. The film was selected for a special screening and event "Cronache di Fotografia" in Verona for "Contemporanea" with Visual Artist/Photographer Vincenzo Castella in 2010. It was screened at the show VideoSoup at Artist’s Television Access in San Francisco in 2011 and at SiFest 2014 Urban Space Garden. Audiences and critics alike were impressed with her work on the film, and this is a trend that continues with everything she takes on. Actor and artist Phil Ristaino has worked with Esposito on a series of projects throughout her formidable career, including the acclaimed film The Mockingbird that Fell from the Highest Branch, and he believes Esposito’s work is one-of-a-kind.
“Alice is thorough and has excellent follow through. Alice is capable of organizing all angles of a film. She knows what she wants and pursues her projects with focus. She can write, direct, is comfortable behind the camera, and has excellent editing skills. She will work and re-work a project until it gets to the place she needs it to be. Alice is willing to work on a project until it is finished, which is an extremely important quality for a film maker. Many filmmakers I have worked with do not realize the dedication it takes to bring a project to completion, but Alice does. That is what makes her a true film maker and a sure-fire success,” said Phil Ristaino.
Esposito and Ristaino teamed up once again on Esposito’s short experimental film Dinamicity. The film analyzes the relationship between humans and the environment that we surround ourselves with. It is a journey to discover the ups and downs of a Metropolis. The situational approach to the city presents us with a new vision and understanding of specific places and how to place the space around us. The film was once again a success, and was selected for the SiFEST 2014 Urban Space Garden.
“I think our modern world is going too fast. I think we forget what is to be human and enjoy the simple aspects of life. When you live in a city with buildings everywhere, and spend half of the time in your car, you lose connection with the real things, like nature, and these are the things that keep us alive,” Esposito described.
Esposito was both the writer and director of the film. In the beginning, it was meant to be a series of three pieces. However, after reviewing the scripts, she realized she had something magical in one of them, and that is how Dinamicity was born.
“I wrote and directed this project, so I had to be ready for anything happening on and off of the screen. I had a very old camera with no follow focus and the film had some action, so I had to be able to render this seamlessly. It was very interesting and stressful at times,” she said. “The most challenging part was that it was all shoot by night, in very weird part of the city. We had to use the light around us and make the most of it. Many shots were on a moving car, so we needed to be quick and ready to catch the right moment on-screen. We had to be careful of bystanders interested in what was going on, and people in the background looking stiff. Another difficult thing was the noise of the city, we really had to work hard to make it work.”
The challenges Esposito overcame paid off. After premiering at SiFest #24 in 2014 in Italy, it was selected for the festival and had a private screening. It was also presented during another section of the festival “Savignano Immagini Festival” where it was published in the book Laboratorio Italia by Pazzini Editore.
Filming Dinamicity gave Esposito the opportunity to really trust her instincts. She had to do more than look into the camera, she had to picture how every shot would look in the final cut. It takes an extraordinary filmmaker to achieve such a feat, and Esposito is one of them.
“My favorite part about filming was the light of the city. At night, it made everything magical. It’s completely different than shooting by day,” she concluded.
Spoken like someone who is incredibly passionate about what they do. You can watch Dinamicity here.
1st Photo by Lavinia Pisani, 2nd photo "Dinamicity" poster, 3rd photo from "Dinamicity"