Beppe Tufarulo, candidate David di Donatello 2020 for the short film Baradar, the story of two brothers forced to flee a war-torn country who will also face the drama of separation. (interview by Maria Vittoria Battaglia)
Beppe Tufarulo began his directing career with MTV and wrote, directed and curated several projects, including TV programs, music video, promo in Italy and abroad. Several of the documentaries based on social themes that he has directed in various countries around the world have received honorable mentions and have won awards such as the Ilaria Alpi Award for Journalism. In 2010 won the Short Films section of the Solinas Talent Prize, and this allowed him to make the short film "We Love Our Clients" which has participated in more than seventy national and international festivals, winning numerous prizes and awards. In the last few years , he has directed TV commercials and branded content for many international brands such as Armani, Diesel, Timberland, Red Bull. In addition to its advertising activity, for Rai Cinema Beppe directed the documentary I "Figli Della Shoah", premiered at the Rome Film Fest.
RaccontardiCinema: First of all I wanted to thank you for your availability. Let's start with how the inspiration was born: the choice to tell the drama of immigration came first, Of the war, of the separation and then you looked for a suitable story, or before you met Alì Eshani - the author and protagonist - and then you decided to give voice to his story?
Beppe Tufarulo: In reality this is a theme that interested me and that I would have loved to have been able to tell, but it was all very casual. One day at lunch I was talking to Francesco Casolo - co-author of the biography of Ali, the book Tonight We Look at the Stars, published by Feltrinelli - and he told me that he had just worked on this book and asked me if I wanted to read it.
In reading it I realized that the story was very strong and very touching, and consequently I would have loved to have found a way to tell it. At the time it also seemed impossible to me,because it's a very long story, it is a journey that these two brothers make from Afghanistan to Europe that lasts five years, therefore potentially it is impossible to translate into a short film.
Then, thinking about it, even comparing myself with Francesco, we have identified a very strong and symbolically important moment, which is the evening in which Ali and his older brother Mohammed decide to separate. In our opinion, that moment could have been the crucial moment, the key to being able to tell first of all a very strong relationship of love and brotherhood and then through that relationship and what happened to both of us to be able to grasp the theme of migration.We never thought of really making a film about migration or taking any kind of political position: first of all we wanted to tell about a love between two brothers and the film - whose title literally means brother in the Farsi language - is exactly this,that is, first of all a relationship between two brothers, what a relationship between anyone could be, returned thanks to what happens on that evening when they separate:the older brother reassuring the younger brother, who decides to give him advice, therefore all very simple and real things that could then give greatness, Unfortunately, of the drama of loneliness that leaves a twelve-year-old child with no one in the world, without even his older brother.
Ground floor: About this fraternal relationship, the actors are also two brothers, among other things, before being actors they are people involved in a very similar story. So I also wanted to know how you got to know Nawid and DanoshSharifi, how did you decide to involve them and how was this relationship both between them as brothers - real and on set - and between you and the two brothers.
B: The biggest difficulty in getting our feet into this project was precisely linked to who we could find and how to look for the two actors,because in fact this is a film that is based solely on the relationship between these two brothers. We wanted to stay as true to history as possible, so on a theoretical level I would have liked to have found two Afghan brothers of more or less a similar age, and a search started that lasted almost a year and that was not leading anywhere despite having written and contacted several associations, including UNHCR. Also the story actually takes place in Turkey but it was impossible to go and shoot in Turkey, we had to stay in Italy and consequently also the search for actors had to be in Italy. At one point an association from Rome,Binary 15, he contacted me saying that two brothers had just arrived for a family reunion with an older brother - therefore without parents. They sent me a photograph, but not being able to rely on a photograph, I decided to meet them in person and went to Rome, Alì also came with me and this was very emotional. In front of me I had two kids who just arrived in Italy who didn't speak a word of Italian and this was the biggest obstacle in general, both immediately,the moment I met them, both forward - I always had a cultural mediator with me because otherwise there would be no possibility of interfacing with them.
E’ some time passed before I decided if they could go well or not, in reality I didn't have any kind of criteria to say what to do with these guys and there was also the fear of not being able to make this film. At a certain point, however, instinct won, I played a lot on their possible complicity between brothers - even if obviously the cultural and linguistic difference created some difficulties - we left and went to Puglia and on the set a sort of little magic from the set happened which caused something to happen. Then when they actually saw them they immediately seemed credible and even natural despite them not - and for them I imagine it was also very difficult.
Ground floor: Among the main themes that emerge,there is that of bond and that of hope. But the impression in seeing the short film is that they emerge as when we see a negative photo, hence the bond that actually manifests itself in the anxiety of separation and a future absence, and the hope of the future in the pain of the memory of the past and of an increasingly confused and weak memory. Did they take shape like this during filming or is there a directorial choice behind that led to this characterization?
B: Both things. The director's choice is there when one wants to try to tell a true story and make that story as credible as possible. From a directorial point of view this - especially in this case of “not actors” –Means to be more gentle and non-invasive. I also make a lot of documentaries and sometimes I like to try to have that documentary look even in a situation like this, of a writing or fiction. So I tried not to be too invasive and to spy whenever possible,also playing on the fact that they were brothers and trying to return what Alì told and which is well inserted in the book, that is the naturalness with which these two brothers spend some very simple moments. In the short film there are a whole series of scenes, also the first in which we see two boys running, they laugh and have fun with a dinghy in hand, a scene that could be seen for any kid as long as one doesn't know what that dinghy is for. Or even Mohammed who teaches him how to cook eggs and gives him a whole series of very simple tips, don't play football, be careful not to get hurt and so on. And then there's this whole thing about their memories,which struck me when I read the book: it's been so long and so much pain that you don't remember your dad's name anymore. These were things we had to give back and tell. The how could not be established, there were ideas, then those ideas are transformed into that set of images that creates an emotion and I hope I have managed to recreate that kind of emotion.
Ground floor: In connection with this answer, I have two questions for you. Let's start with the one about remembrance. The scene where Ali says on the phone that he doesn't remember his father's name is in my opinion a particularly touching scene. Hence the theme of memory, which is also central in this short film, always comes back: How much the memory, the link with the past, it is important in building the future? It must remain an intimate dimension, like the pain of this brother left alone or the whole social dimension is important, also of sharing, of this memory?
B: the answer is not simple. We start from a true story, of a child experiencing a very strong drama, he suddenly loses his parents and finds himself alone in the world with only his brother.That is a drama that everyone can experience in a particular way thinking about how much the memory can do you good or can hurt you, how much you carry with you about your past and the emotions you experienced with your parents. You carry emotions with you, of flavors, of memories, of colors, but sometimes you can't name those things because you lost them I can't tell if that loss is due to the drama, the time that has passed or the ability to move forward and survive. Maybe when one is in very severe pain there are several possibilities to overcome that pain,the interiorizzi, you hide it, you forget it: in this little film the memory is something important because in any case you have origins, you have a path that you take that leads you to get anywhere else and that probably leads to completely changing your life, assuming you survive the trip. You bring that memory back to you and then you internalize it as you can.
The moment that made me decide I wanted to tell this story in a film was when in the book it is said that Ali realizes that he is left alone in the world., has no one, and think “ok, you, that you are my brother, you taught me so many things, you gave me so many tips, but maybe you forgot the only thing you had to say to me: but what do I do if I can't find you anymore, if you don't come back to me anymore?”. That loneliness, when you think a twelve-year-old is alone in the world and has no one, it is the quid that made me ask if we could also give images to this strength to move forward, which is why you end up with a close-up on him and then tell in words what Ali managed to do and what was his starting point, that is nothing, being left alone. And Ali has made an incredible journey and for the strength he found to do so, memories were certainly fundamental. But this is a question to ask Ali, I interpret.
Ground floor: Regarding the previous answer, where you mentioned the opening scene, I'll ask you the other question. It seems to me that starting from the opening scene and then remaining constant throughout the short film there is a continuous contrast between yellow and black, the title is already yellow on a black background, then in the scenes there is this very warm light that reflects on the faces of the boys in these very dark rooms, and also in the same opening scene, where there is the sun and a very warm light, the clothes hanging on the windows are mainly yellow, and even the dinghy itself is yellow. It therefore seems to me that the contrast that emerged between the emotions is emphasized in this play of light and colors. E’ my suggestion as a spectator, it is a purely aesthetic choice, or it is a constitutive element of the language of the film itself?
B: A bit of all the things you said. Obviously it is not accidental, there is always a color study that one does with the director of photography by choosing a color palette and a mood of colors, hot or cold. This type of approach is always there.
Then he didn't start by choosing yellow and black but simply by saying that there are only the two of them, that they are two kids, and we follow them in a moment of lightheartedness despite the context and what they are experiencing, and we see them in moments of anger, moments of complicity and moments of pain. This results in very intimate situations and very sunny situations. So, by faithfully following the emotions, the colors arrived accordingly.
Ground floor: A last question, on any future projects especially in relation to this short film: there is the idea, even only in the embryonic state, to turn it into a feature film in the future?
B: As I told you before, I also come from the documentary and many projects that I could do in the future go in that direction there.
Now the documentary on Tiziano Ferro for Prime Video is out and I would like to follow that kind of projects, that is, projects in which there is a true story at the center, a human being, and tell those emotions and feelings.
I deny you only with Francesco, the screenwriter, we have talked, thought and dealt with the ideas of being able to make the story of Aliqual something else, but from here to say that this thing will be achieved I see it a bit complicated. Obviously there are always some issues that are a bit awkward and more difficult to develop because some interlocutors may be more or less scared by certain issues or by certain ways of telling them.
The idea is there, in our head, it is very clear, and we would like to tell the life of that child,But, the day he arrived in Italy. What we would like to meet in a film is therefore the second part,the moment when that child arrives in Italy and is now a x-year-old man who graduated: how he managed to decide that path and not another?This is what we would like to tell in a film, then obviously it is an idea and as such I don't know if it will be able to materialize.
Ground floor: kind Beppe thank you very much again for your availability and good work. See you later!
Ed: the interview was carried out by Maria Vittoria Battaglia which we thank.