Author: Alessia de Antoniis

MATTIA CARRANO, (TWICE) STAR OF PRISMA: ‘I DIDN ‘T EVEN WANT TO BE AN ACTOR…’

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

Without ever having studied acting, Mattia Carrano was catapulted by his mother into auditions for the Amazon Prime series Prisma made by Ludovico Bessegato, former creator of Skam Italia. «I was chosen to play twins, Marco and Andrea. I’m an only child», the actor jokes. While waiting for the second season of Prisma, Mattia Carrano was given the Next Generation Award by MANINTOWN at the Venice Film Festival, and is this month’s cover story.

Born in Rome on 13 May 2000, he attended secondary school at Rossellini Technical Institute and studied as an editor. «Unfortunately I haven’t finished my studies», says Mattia.

«I went to Hungary for a year with my mother, who was born there. I speak native Hungarian, but I have difficulty writing it. So then I was forced to start school over from the first year. I passed the year but, back in Italy, I had to start all over again. So I left. Taking the same classes over and over again without ever failing seemed a bit too much for me. That’s how it went. I didn’t have the best experiences at school. I was hyperactive. Sitting still? It feels like dying. They even sent me to the school psychologist. I just wanted to do different things all the time, which is why I did so much sport. I don’t think school is bad, that’s just what I experienced. Others were fine». 

Total look Valentino Mattia Carrano
Total look Valentino

«It was also difficult for someone like me to study the part. But I was able to live that role, and Ludovico evidently noticed it»

Let’s start from the beginning: you hadn’t had any actor training when you auditioned…

No. Zilch. And I didn’t even want to be an actor! But I put my heart and soul into it, I tried, and it went well, even though I didn’t know anything. I always wonder what Ludovico Bessegato saw in me. I asked him often, but he never answered. It was also difficult for someone like me to study the part. But I was able to live that role, and Ludovico evidently noticed it. From there I had to hunker down. 

To study acting, you mean?

Exactly! I’ve always loved cinema, but I thought I’d be a director or work behind the camera in other roles. It was my mother who has always said since I was a kid ‘you have to be an actor.’

In Prisma, Andrea wants to leave but his mother doesn’t agree, while she decides that Marco has to swim. What do you think of the expectations parents have of children? Did your mother do more or less the same thing to you?

Yes, that’s true. I think parents always tell you what they want you to do. They should be listened to, but then you have to have the guts to do what you want to do. 

Total look Ferragamo Mattia Carrano
Total look Ferragamo
Total look Ferragamo
Total look Ferragamo
Total look Ferragamo

«It’s changed my life. I do more or less the same things, but with a job that allows me to travel and opens a lot of doors for me»

Prisma came out a year ago: how has it affected you?

It’s changed my life. I do more or less the same things, but with a job that allows me to travel and opens a lot of doors for me. I have the same friends as before. I know a lot of people, but friendship is different. I’m not very trusting of others. It would be rubbish if I told you: ‘I’m the same person as before, nothing has changed, because I have my feet on the ground.’ Yes, you can also have your feet on the ground, but you walk the red carpets, you go to events, fans write you, they recognise you on the street. Then it depends on how you live it. I’ve stayed more or less the same: I started when I was 21, now I’m 23. I’m growing up, I’m learning, I’m maturing… at least I hope. I had a girlfriend, regrettably we broke up. 

In Prisma you interpret twins with two opposite personalities. At the end of the shoot, after switching continuously from one role to another, did you feel a touch split yourself?

I worked on body language a lot. The change was instantaneous. Here’s an example I always give: if I sit on the sofa, on my side, with my legs close together, arms folded, I give one impression. If I sit in the middle of the sofa with my legs spread all cocky, I give another. That’s the starting point. Not having studied acting, it occurred to me to start from there. Then I added a different voice, a different language, and everything that the role required.

After the set I always try to separate myself, while many colleagues do the opposite: they stay in character. I couldn’t do it: if I had, perhaps I would have become a bit schizophrenic. While filming we lived in Latina, so in the evening I’d go back to the hotel and study my part for the following day. In the morning back on set. The rest of the cast and crew were in the hotel, so you never fully disconnected in the end. 

Prisma is the brainchild of Alice Urciuolo and Giovanna Cristina Vivinetto, who were expelled from Kennedy Secondary School in Rome because they were transgender. In January she won the case because the expulsion was not for just cause, but for gender discrimination. Would it change anything for you to have a trans teacher?

No, why? The important thing is that they know how to teach, that they take care of me as a student.

Total look Fendi Mattia Carrano
Total look Fendi

«I’ve always wondered why we have to give ourselves labels. People are afraid of the freedom to be who they want and to find their place»

Protests were the way to break the mould in the 60s and 70s. Now here you are, a generation sometimes called apathetic: is that accurate, are you simply living the change? Can Prisma be considered a political manifesto?

I’ve never considered Prisma a political project, but it has the cards to be one. In reality, it recounts the daily lives of youth. They once asked me why teen shows were exploding. Because in my opinion, they stopped making series for youth and started making series that talk about youth. I’m stopped on the street by more 40-year-olds than by teens. Obviously the project is making waves.  

Total look Bottega Veneta
Total look Bottega Veneta
Total look Bottega Veneta
Total look Bottega Veneta

Your generation is described as fluid. Do you feel the need to define yourself?

I’ve never understood this. I’ve always wondered why we have to give ourselves labels. People are afraid of the freedom to be who they want and to find their place. So they go in search of the freedom to be themselves, to do what they want, to be happy. I’ve never liked labels.

A few years ago there was a series on Netflix called Living with Yourself, where the protagonist finds himself living with his doppelgänger. Playing twins, did it make you discover a Mattia that you would never ever live with?

I wouldn’t live with Mattia at all! With such a strong personality, two Mattias would be a bit ‘too much.’ 

Total look Dior Mattia Carrano
Total look Dior

«I’ve always been like this: if I can see the arrival point, then I need to change, to try something more difficult that I don’t know how to do»

Your recent past includes a Korean martial art. Why did you leave?

When I returned from Los Angeles after the Hwa Rang Do World Cup, I tore my cruciate ligaments. I was in a cast for three months from hip to ankle, I was forced to do this long rehab, but I wasn’t recovering. They told me to train in pools, but swimming laps is not for me. I discovered water polo, which is a bit like the MMA of swimming. It was a very special time in my life. I’ve always been like this: if I can see the arrival point, then I need to change, to try something more difficult that I don’t know how to do. 

Total look Fendi, shoes Hogan
Total look Fendi, shoes Hogan

After Prisma, have you got plans for the future?

I can’t talk about it. We filmed the second season of Prisma, but I don’t know when it will air.  

There’s a lot of talk about AI. Are you afraid of being replaced by a computer?

It’s something that gives me the creeps. I think cinematic art could die. Fellini said: there are no good or bad films, there are live or dead films. With artificial intelligence, in my opinion, films are born dead. There’s no emotion, there’s not a person behind them who says one day, ‘Wow, what an idea!’ and runs to talk to other people to make a film about it. It lacks emphasis, the love for what you do, the excitement of telling others what you have in mind. 

Total look Alexander McQueen
Total look Alexander McQueen

Credits:

Editor in chief Federico Poletti

Photographer Davide Musto

Stylist Sara Castelli Gattinara, Vanessa Bozzacchi – Other Agency

Make-up Eleonora Mantovani – Simone Belli Agency

Hair Elena – Contestarockhair

Photographer assistant Valentina Ciampaglia

Craft beers from stale bread, the new green trend spreads through Italian master brewers

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

What if not wasting a crumb of bread helped meet the UN Agenda 2030 goals? What if beers, in the plural noun, were not only fruity, herbaceous, warm, spicy, peaty, smoky, bitter, barricaded, but absolutely green too?

Craft beer

Biova Project

In Italy, craft beer is also a synonymous for networking. The agreement between Unionbirrai, a trade association for small and independent breweries, and Biova Project, an innovative start-up created to recover wasted food throughout Italy, is dated February 2023. Objective: to fight food waste by creating craft beers that are the result of a circular and green economy in a country where 13 thousand quintals of bread are thrown away every day.

Biova beer
Biova beer
Biova beer

“Biova Project was born with the idea of creating products that can fight food waste. That is why we have built a logistical system of recovery: before being a brewery, we are a food innovation hub” explains Franco Dipietro, one of the founders of Biova Project. “We recover unsold products where they accumulate the most: the large-scale retail trade and bakery associations. Having this in mind, we have entered into an agreement with the National Association of Italian Bakers and Unionbirrai. We recover not only bread, but also waste food from dough processing. This year, we launched the world’s first beer from recovered pasta, the same thing we do with rice”, he said.

The purpose of Biova Project

“This is not a project of brewing beer from stale bread, but a circular upcycling economy, whose philosophy is to give a second life to all those foods that didn’t make it the first time, to processing waste. We also have a snack made from brewing waste: once we use bread, pasta or rice, along with barley malt to make beers, we also recover what is left over and create baked goods. It is essential to start thinking like this: we not only recover unsold food that should be disposed of but, more importantly, we do not use other raw material to make an equivalent product. So, we fall within the goals of sustainable development and reduce the use of raw materials”.

Snacks and beer made from recuperated bread and brewing residues
Biova Project

The projects of Biova

“We started three years ago from Piedmont and now we are also in Lombardy, Triveneto, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, and we are opening another collection center in Sicily. Biova is also involved in marketing and in the large-scale retail circuit, for example in Coop Consorzio Nord Ovest with a beer specially made from the recovery of their bread. We are in Eataly stores with Biova Eataly, where we use bread from the chain’s bakery. We also get to distribute in the “horeca” channels, that are hotels, restaurants and pubs.

In addition, we have regional projects: Biova Lago di Como comes from bread recovered by the association of bakers of the lake, as it does in Milan. Thanks to this process, we have something that would be lost otherwise: territoriality. The recovered bread comes from the territory and, by changing its origin, the result is always a different beer. Our latest agreement was signed with Ikea Italia, which, with its 22 stores, is the second largest restaurant group in the country in terms of quantity of food served and Biova is their signature beer”.

Recuperated bread
Bags of saved bread, essential raw material for “green” beer

Baladin Briciola

With the motto “bread is not wasted but drunk”, another beer was born the same aim: Baladin Briciola, the result of a project by Teo Musso, president of the Consorzio Birra Italiana and founder of Baladin, a brewery that started the Italian craft beer revolution 26 years ago. “In 1997”, he explains, “I made the first craft beers on the market, different from other Italian drinks in the restaurant industry. Isaac can pair with fresh cheeses, white meats and fish, and Super can pair with red meats and aged cheeses. This was a cultural revolution that brought beer closer to the path that wine had taken: smelling what was inside the glass before drinking represents the cornerstone of the cultural revolution of the craft product. We have two goals: to reach the restaurant world and to educate the drinker’s palate”.

Baladin Briciola
Baladin Briciola

Its characteristics

Beer is not an industrial mono-product that can only be paired with pizza. The pairing doesn’t come from a matter of taste indeed, because pizzerias initially couldn’t sell alcoholic products above 8°. Wine could not be sold, so beer was the only alcoholic drink allowed. We have many different types, from barrel-aged ones to a Pedro Ximénez Sherry, to an everyday one such as Briciola 4.8°, which immediately stands out for the scent of “freshly baked” bread, complemented by herbaceous and citrus notes. The low alcohol content makes the beer light and surprisingly delicate, in a perfect balance of notes of cereal, hops, flowers and citrus, as if it were liquid bread. It is a circular plan, where beers are sold by the same bakers who provided the unsold bread, as well as an online project.

“Redeem with Taste” project

There is also a place where craft beer, made with stale bread, goes beyond the circularity of the economy, enhancing the concepts of social sustainability. 

“Redeem with Taste” is the project by Taranto prison, which involve inmates waiting for a second life.

"Redeem with Taste" project
The poster of the “Redeem with Taste” project

The idea comes from master brewer Espedito Alfarano, who says, “our micro-brewery aims to produce a craft beer focusing on the sustainability of production, which, in the case of drinks, is among the most ‘inefficient’ in resource use. A brewery produces residues in surprising amounts: 92 percent of the ingredients used become production waste. Three main types of waste are produced during brewing: spent grains, that is the bran of the barley or grain used, the spent yeast, that is what remains of the yeast after fermentation, and process water.

This is a frightening scenario, so we thought about reusing the food waste, including some innovations in the production process, such as using stale bread from the prison, so as to reduce the use of cereal as the primary source of starch, and reusing the spent grains as a raw material in the production of beer breadsticks and, hopefully, whole-wheat cookies. This is a virtuous sustainable circle, aiming at the reuse of all raw materials and their waste”.

100% made in Puglia

“Our beer is “artisanal made in Puglia”, that is to say that the region recognizes that the product has at least 97 percent Apulian raw materials. We have 100 percent of them. The barley is both grown and malted in the province of Foggia, Lucera, while the hops in Martina Franca, which is quite rare in Italy.
As part of the project “Birrificio nel Carcere di Taranto by Birra Pugliese”, we produce Birra Puccia, a pale Ale with 4.7° of alcohol and a savory note that comes from the salt in the bread. The goal is to redescover local traditions an, above all, fight waste. That bread has a special aroma and flavor, which tells the story of the tradition of the area of Taranto, and allows us to carry out a circular economy project against food waste.

We haven’t invented anything though, the barley beer of the ancient Egyptians was already green, as the millet beer of the African tribes, the rice wines of Asia, the chicha made from corn by the American Indians. In Russia, since the Middle Ages, people have been drinking beer from rye bread. Nothing new then, but a return to the origins. Our Puccia Beer is an unfiltered craft beer, with the yeasts giving it its unique flavor and high vitamin B content. The result is a slightly sweet drink, with salty notes that stand out with a finish of bread zest. It is all made by inmates who are learning a trade in a prison house. One day, it would be nice to call it home of the trades.”

Unsold and recovered bread
Unsold and recovered bread
Unsold and recovered bread

The new Italian Beers, beetween circularity of raw materials and social sostenibility

As never before, Italian craft beer is now enriched with new meanings that go beyond the concept of a simple beverage, encompassing the circularity of raw materials, the territoriality of flavors, and social sostenibility. Who would have thought about it? Today, even a mug of beer, if carefully chosen, can make the world a better place.

Insider Christoph Noe’s tips for navigating the contemporary art world

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

“How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World Happiness”. This is the title of the unconventional book by Christoph Noe, co-founder of Larry’s List, one of the leading consulting companies for contemporary art collectors.

However, according to Christoph Noe’s philosophy, no saccharine gurus looking at a work of art with an enigmatic gaze and the buyer from top to toe. The art market can, and should, also be fun. On the surface, “How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World Happiness” looks like one of those curious oracular books to be asked questions by randomly opening to read the answer. Scrolling through it, you realize that you have in your hands an amusing vademecum for moving happily in the art market.
If Einstein said that you understand something if you can explain it to your grandmother, then the paperback by Christoph Noe is the book you can also give to your grandmother. Gallerists, auction house directors, art dealers, neophytes: art can be for everyone.

Christoph Noe art
Christoph Noe

What’s the difference between an art consultant, or art advisor, and a gallery owner or director?

Well, you already touched on a very interesting point of our beloved art scene. We often enjoy it because often lines are blurry, but it can also be utterly confusing and unprofessional. To give you an example: you are selling one artwork from Etsy to a friend in Uptown Manhattan (replaced by any other art hub) and you directly add “Art Advisor” to the title on your business card.

“I guess there are as many arguments for and against choosing an art consultant”

Why choose an art consultant?

It comes down to the definition of what an art advisor is. In our case, we often work with corporates or brands on their corporate art engagement. This is a field totally different to advising someone on buying artworks.
If you refer to an art consultant as someone who advises on art purchases. Yes, why should you? The pleasure of collecting can be often very indirect if filtered via an art advisor. I guess there are as many arguments for and against choosing one.

What is your typical customer?

We are very excited that there is no typical client. We work with e.g. corporates, auction houses, art shippers, private museums and private collectors. They all have in common that they strive to gain visibility in the art scene and beyond by creating sharing their meaningful content and ideas.

What are the emerging markets? What are the most vibrant markets and most open to new things?

I am restraining myself from using superlatives. The most vibrating, the hottest artist etc. If you have been working for a number of years in the scene you will see that it was hot today and it is very unlikely tomorrow. Berlin and East-German were the hottest stuff in the mid-Nineties, Zombie Formalist in the 2010… I am sure most of the readers never heard of that term Zombie Formalism.
Also, the digital, global networks and exchanges making regional definitions very blurry. But I guess you won’t give up and want to nail me down on a place: it seems that Los Angeles has a high density of artists, art spaces and private collections these days that are considered hot.

“The digital, global networks and exchanges making regional definitions very blurry”

Christoph Noe book
“How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World Happiness”

What are the most requested works on the market? Paintings, statues, photos…

Simple answer: paintings.

What is the art sector with the highest expected growth rate right now? Many think, for example, of the NFT art market…

There are some researchers that could answer it better. UBS publishes an annual report on the general art market.
There have been ongoing discussions on the role of NFTs in the market. Someone tends to argue that NFTs are closer to trading cards, rather than fine art. It is a market in the making. We often suggest waiting a bit and seeing what remains after a while. However, this advice is very hard to follow. FOMO!

How is the market changing after the pandemic, with the war in Ukraine shutting down the Russian market, the economic recession in the Eurozone and in some eastern markets due to inflation?

If you like it or not, art and art collecting is often connected to a very wealthy group of the society. They are eventually less affected by those happenings.
What we witness at the moment is somehow confusing: even so, there were many crises in 2022, we did see a number of records for art. However, we also agree that the market is very concentrated. Auction records does not necessarily mean that a wide group of artists is benefiting equally.

“Art offers a beautiful platform for exchange and discussion, for creating curiosity and mutual respect”

In Italy Chinese is often synonymous with low quality. What do we have to learn in art? everyone knows what a Ming vase is, but what does the Chinese (or Far East) market offer today?

Let’s not think in clichés. Art offers a beautiful platform for exchange and discussion, for creating curiosity and mutual respect. We strongly believe that this is more important than ever.

Christoph Noe How to Not Fuck Up
“How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World Happiness” launch in Singapore

“How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World. 60 tips and tricks on how to stay relaxed and mentally sane in the art industry”. The book seems to go against all the rules that have so far governed the art world. Why? What is your experience?

I don’t know. One of the “rules” is “being humble”.  If this is against all rules, then I think your question implies that you have accepted a reality that is very saddening. But also, it is a bit surprising that those things have to be written down in the first place. My experience is that the art world is not such a friendly, welcoming and idealistic place as we tend to believe. Art is about culture, aesthetics, beauty but we don’t often live up to those values ourselves.
The book started off as a reminder to me and it seems that it resonates with a larger audience.

“If art collecting for a financial gain is all that matters, then it is the end of the relevance of contemporary art anyway”

The book contains 60 tips. Nr. 35: “collect works that lose value”. It sounds like a joke.

That’s the problem if you quote only headlines. I will give some explanations and examples for my thought. And, I am only taking out the “financial component” of the equation. If art collecting for a financial gain is all that matters, then it is the end of the relevance of contemporary art anyway.
Also, let’s look into other industries and other purchase behavior where losing value seems to be fully accepted. Take ordering a new car for example. The moment you drive it from the dealer you lose money. But people seem not to worry because the joy comes from other aeras rather than making money.

Nr. 20: “say no to great chances”. Any art dealer would try to convince you otherwise.

I am not talking about art dealing particularly. I am referring to people “selling you great chances.” I am idealistic myself and like to preserve that. But: in the art world -as anywhere else- there is no free lunch.

“I don’t want to demotivate people to start collecting but I recommend believing more in one’s own judgment”

Nr. 30: “find a mentor”. An art consultant is a mentor?

Could be. However, a mentor as I see it, is someone that goes beyond someone who teaches you technical expertise. It is someone who inspires you, someone who is interested in your overall development of your personality, someone who understands your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe someone will tell you “you should maybe not be an art dealer.” It’s not easy to find those people. Also, because people are often very much focused on themselves.

Nr. 21 “When there are 200 people on a waiting list to buy the same artist, why would you want to be the nr. 201?”. It is an attitude that gives security. The risk is thought to be lower. It’s not like that?

Tell me one truly inspiring and great collection that was built by someone who did not take a risk? Great collectors and playing safe does not work in one sentence. Of course, there are also so few of those and I don’t want to demotivate people to start collecting but I recommend believing more in one’s own judgment.

Christoph Noe art world
“How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World Happiness” launch in Singapore

“For a long-lasting career I believe it is not sufficient to base on one influencer”

Nr. 29: You write about “treasure privacy” and you say that “all intimacy is killed”, talking about the ban on photographing a work of art. The director of the Egyptian museum of Turin invited Chiara Ferragni to make her museum as famous as the Uffizi. Advertising is the soul of commerce and today advertising travels on IG. Wouldn’t you hire an influencer to drive up an artist’s market price?

I respect social media a lot and our business is also largely based on it. Also, the fact that mainstream enters into the art world is something I am excited about. If influencers are a way to access a new audience, to get people interested in visiting a museum, there is not much to critic about.
For driving up an artist’s market: There are many ways to do it. As you mentioned, a celebrity or art influencer endorsement could be one. There are also the “classic” ones like “creating” auction records which still happens too. We are wondering how sustainable those methods are. Do “develop” an artist market you need to build it on different pillars including visibility, institutional and private collections, art critics, gallery representation, publication and so on. This sounds very old-school, and there are always exceptions and we all know Instagram star artists, but for a long-lasting career I believe it is not sufficient to base on one influencer. But to answer your question: I would NOT hire an influencer. It is part of our job to make the right people like art collectors excited about an artist but if they are not excited themselves, it does not make sense. The audience has fine senses for authenticity.

“One of the risks, on social media, is that artworks that are not bright enough fall through the algorithm”

What is actually the risk of art on Instagram?

There are a number of risks. Let me mention two:  1. The risk is that artworks, that are not bright enough, fall through the algorithm. Colors compositions that show more contrasts tend to perform better. But sometimes less colorful, more “quiet” artworks can be amazing, but this does not translate well on a digital image. 2. More well-known artists are usually performing better. You have only so little time to get the attention of your audience and if people have a reference it is easier.

Opening image: a portrait of Christoph Noe

An actor in constant transition: Matteo Oscar Giuggioli between urgency and curiosity

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

He was born in Rho, just outside Milan, on the night of 31st December, 2000 at 11:30 pm. Except that night, Matteo Oscar Giuggioli never kept his mum awake again: “I was very good. I smiled at everyone; I was sunny.” Music attracted him from an early age: “I was in the stroller with my mum. We met a street violinist and I was hypnotized listening to him. We stayed there for a long time because I didn’t want to leave.” Growing up he also thought about being a musician: “At home I have a guitar, bass, electric drums, saxophone, violin, cajón. I tried many instruments… Same as I did with sports”.

Matteo Oscar Giuggioli
Total look Saint Laurent

In high school he enrolled in the Human Sciences lyceum where he met his great love: acting. “I started in the first year of high school with an extracurricular course. I always felt that I had things to say, but I was channeling my energy badly. I was making attempts that I never completed. I had a tiring school career. I didn’t feel comfortable and I didn’t think I was intelligent. I was in a period of transition and I felt misunderstood. Nothing caught my attention. I was demotivated. But when I started acting, I felt a huge emotion, a sense of freedom that I had never felt before. I had a great teacher who made us do autogenous training, theater and dance. I felt a crazy sense of vitality and I continued. It was like a drug: after a while I needed to increase the dose”.

“Actually, there wasn’t a moment when I decided: from now on I want to make films. It just happened”

Matteo Oscar Giuggioli film
Total look Saint Laurent

But you didn’t continue with theater…

Actually, there wasn’t a moment when I decided: from now on I want to make films. It just happened. For “Gli sdraiati” they came to audition in schools and that’s where it started. I just wanted to act. It didn’t matter if it was theater or cinema.

In “Il filo invisibile”, directed by Marco Puccioni for Netflix, you deal with two uncomfortable topics: homosexuality and rainbow families. Two aspects of our everyday life that the new government opposes…

This is a government against families in general, not just rainbow families. Family is synonymous with love and this is a government against love. Because you are telling me who I cannot love, who I can marry or have children with. Is having children the translation of a sexual act with a subsequent birth, or is it simply wanting to share love?

Matteo Oscar Giuggioli Instagram
Total look Bally

“Skill and talent are the basis, but there must be study, research”

You are with Stefano Accorsi in the new Rai series “Vostro onore”. How was the experience?

A beautiful project, but I always feel in constant transition. I’m very happy about “Vostro onore”, but I struggle to watch it. It means that I have grown up, matured. I am very strict with myself: I don’t like myself. I wish I tried harder. It is important to invest in coaching and in research. Often productions put actors in action without sufficient preparation. Let them try, let them get to know each other.

A father and a son know their bodies and know their minds. We should have the time to go out and talk, get to know each other in general. Our work is also research, and if you do it, the shows results. Look at “Brado”, it’s a wonderful movie. Saul Nanni was of infinite skill; thanks to its talent and the preparation he had. Kim Rossi Stuart is someone who tries, is fussy and in the end trying pays of. Skill and talent are the basis, but there must be study, research. “Brado” is a demonstration of this.

In Venice, together with Amanda Campana, co-starring in “Suspicious Minds”, you were honored with the Next Generation Award. In such a short time in Venice. How does it feel?

Venice was crazy. You don’t understand where you are. You’re at the Venice Film Festival and you don’t even know how you got there. Sometimes I tell my mother: “Mum, do you remember five years ago when I was still in high school?”. It cost money and we didn’t know if we would make it. We made it with a lot of sacrifices. It was like a lottery even doing Rome-Milan all the time. And it was all our investment. And every now and then I tell them: “Mum, did you see? Something did happen!”.

Matteo Giuggioli Venezia
Total look Bally

“I always told that theater or cinema was the same thing for me, as long as I was an actor”

Did your mum support you in realizing your life…?

Yes… I don’t like the word investment. I prefer to think that she was there and held my hand. I was always very clear with her. I told her: “I need to do this to be serene”. In front of a son who tells you this…. There are people who reach out to ask me how to do it. The question is: do you want to be an actor or do you want to act? Those are two different things. What moves you? I always told my mum that theater or cinema was the same thing for me, as long as I was an actor. I’m fussy and stubborn. I studied a lot and gave my mum the prospect to believe in me.

Matteo Giuggioli premi
Total look Saint Laurent

We feel you come from the theater because you speak of urgency. Those who do theater don’t do it for the red carpet…

Urgency is something I really like. Even when I listen to music. To feel. I have to feel that it pushes you, it urges you to tell me something. For example, Blanco: I feel he needs to say what he says. It is raw, you feel it energetically. Necessity and curiosity are two concepts I like a lot.

“Urgency is something I really like. Even when I listen to music. I have to feel that it pushes you”

You have finished shooting “Suspicious minds” by Emiliano Corapi. What can you tell us ahead of time?

I am curious to see the film in the cinema. Emiliano Corapi is maniacal, careful and precise. This work was, as if it was cut with a scalpel – delicately done. The screenplay is tough. Emiliano writes very well and I liked the relationship created with Amanda (Campana – co-star). We listened to each other a lot. I would have liked to have done two more rehearsals, but in the end we were all so focused, and worked intensively for six weeks. I think it is a film that will surprise.

Matteo Giuggioli social
Total look Etro

Credits

Talent Matteo Oscar Giuggioli

Editor in Chief Federico Poletti

Text Alessia de Antoniis

Photographer Davide Musto

Production & styling Alessia Caliendo

Ph. assistant Valentina Ciampaglia

Stylist assistant Andrea Seghesio

Hair Kemon

Grooming Giulia Mariti @Making Beauty Management

Location ISFCI – Istituto Superiore di Fotografia

Special thanks to Verdefresco

Opening image: Matteo Oscar Giuggioli wears total look Saint Laurent

Amanda Campana, competitive, conscious, determined (and beautiful)

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

Slender. Fleshy lips. Face with delicate features. Aquamarine eyes. At times the girl from Japanese anime, at times Crepax’s Valentina, but blonde. She is lighter and funnier. She is Amanda Campana – an actress, born in Carrara on 6th  March, 1997, for many she is the Sofia of Summertime, the famous Netflix series.

On IG she is @amanda.yr: “These are the initials of my first dogs: Yaki, my very first little puppy, the love of my life who is no longer with us. R is for Rondo, a chow chow of my mum”.

Amanda Campana
Trench Balenciaga, harness Moncler, over the knee boots Sergio Rossi

You were awarded the Next Generation Award for Suspicious Minds in Venice which is not yet in cinemas. How did you feel?

I didn’t expect to get to Venice so soon. Then, when I look back, I see that I had a good dose of luck, but also that I have worked hard over these four years. In the end, I was very grateful as there was my grandfather who had been telling me for ages “I want to see you in Venice before I leave”. It was fulfilling  to give this to my family.  I am very curious to see the movie. It is one of the projects in which I felt most confident and I also loved the story.

On IG we can see you pole dancing. It looks very natural…

It’s not so easy. Before I started pole dancing I was just doing some self-taught yoga. When I first started pole dancing, I found it difficult. You need a lot of arm strength, elasticity and pain tolerance. It hurts. You stay with the friction of your skin: that’s what hold You up. But it is so nice that you forget how difficult and painful it is.

Amanda Campana attrice
Trench Balenciaga, harness Moncler, over the knee boots Sergio Rossi

“In my opinion, cinema doesn’t have to be educational, but it’s right that it represents the reality that we can absorb”

What about yoga?

It was a time when I was in conflict with myself. A phase in my life when I didn’t like myself, I didn’t feel good about myself. I was looking to do something at home, not for toning or losing weight. I felt the need to find something that connects my mind with my body.

You are a vegetarian: Is it by choice or were you raised this way?

No, on the contrary. My grandmother had the classic village shop and sold meat. I come from a traditional Tuscan family where you eat meat. When I was 15, I made my decision. I said, “Guys, this hasn’t been great, because I’ve never liked meat. I make a choice for myself, for the animals and for the environment and I quit eating meat and fish.”  I chose to be vegetarian as I didn’t want to complicate my life by being a vegan. One needs to be flexible when eating out.

Amanda Campana Summertime
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It is good to see that new generations live their choices in a non-conflictual way.

Yes, we are peaceful. We have realised that the path of violence, arrogance or aggression doesn’t lead anywhere. If you impose your idea on someone, you push them away. I try to respect the ideas of others even when every cell of my body is saying no. But I realised that the best thing is to avoid conflict.

“We are a fighting generation, we don’t live with the head in the clouds”

How did you start acting?

By chance. After finishing artistic high school, I didn’t have a clear plan, so I went to a make-up school. For a few yearsI worked as a make-up artist on advertising and photo sets. Then I started modelling, until an acting school contacted me to go on a tryout at the academy. From there I started auditioning. The following year I was on the set of Summertime.

Amanda Campana intervista
Total look Antonio Marras

I read online that in Summertime you represent ‘the LGBT portion x production’…

This is certainly an unfortunate phrase, but I think that sometimes the end justifies the means. For many, this Netflix policy, that every production must feature a character of minority, is always seen as a stretch. In my opinion, cinema doesn’t have to be educational, but it’s right that it represents the reality that we can absorb. And sometimes a little push is needed. In everyday life, there are people of all colours and sexual orientations. So, right now, I force myself, when I produce, to also represent what is considered to be a minority. If I impose this on all productions, eventually it will become a norm. At that point there will no longer be a need to impose it. It is enough to represent a reality as it is.

We have a woman in the Presidency of the Council who goes by the male name. What do you think about that?

I am very frustrated. Sometimes I lose hope because this government does not represent me, does not represent my generation, my ideals and the ideals and rights of many. For me it is a great defeat, as a generation and as a woman. For the first time we have such an important female figure, totally victimised by patriarchy, to the point that she wants to be called masculine, as if, to be important, you have to be a man.

Amanda Campana film
Amanda Campana film
Total look Ferragamo

“It’s hard to find someone my age who doesn’t have very strong ideologies and who doesn’t fight to defend them. We are all very involved in the world around us”

They lowered the voting age in the Senate and we have a Parliament with an average age over sixty….

Many young people are out-of-towners. Most of us did not vote because we could not do it. It’s no use lowering the age and then not giving the chance for people to vote. And that’s a shame, because we are actually a fighting generation. It’s hard to find someone my age who doesn’t have very strong ideologies and who doesn’t fight to defend them. We are all very involved in the world around us. We don’t live with the head in the clouds.

If they touch, even indirectly, Law 194 on IGV, will you take to the streets?

Absolutely yes… I am resentful. But as soon as this is being pointed out, the supporters of this majority tell You that they don’t have any intention to touch the Law 194, without realising that right now it is already very difficult for a woman to have an abortion safely, serenely, close to her home. The problem is not about changing the law, the problem is not protecting it from the loopholes that in some ways already hinder the right to abortion.

Amanda Campana 2022
Total look Fendi

And the best trip you ever had?

In fifth year of high school with my mum, her partner and her partner’s son. We went to Bora Bora, a paradise on earth. But it also had another meaning for me. I was suffering from panic attacks at the time and taking an airplane to the other side of the world was unthinkable. But I made it, attached to my mum’s arm the whole flight. My mum then, for my 18th birthday, had given me a tattoo and I hadn’t done it yet. I said: I want to do it when I really know what to do. As soon as we arrived, I got a small one in Polynesian style.

Amanda Campana Instagram
Total look Diesel, hat Borsalino

Credits

Talent Amanda Campana

Editor in Chief Federico Poletti

Text Alessia de Antoniis

Photographer Davide Musto

Production & styling Alessia Caliendo

Ph. assistant Valentina Ciampaglia

Stylist assistant Andrea Seghesio

Hair Kemon

Make-up Giulia Mariti @Making Beauty Management

Location ISFCI Istituto Superiore di Fotografia

Special thanks to Verdefresco

Opening image: Amanda Campana wears Trench Balenciaga, harness Moncler, over the knee boots Sergio Rossi

Music, Art & Culture: the incredible talent mix of Ema Stokholma

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

Ema Stokholma artist
Dress Antonio Marras, jewelry Marco De Luca Gioielli, rhinestone net stylist’s archive

Morwenn Moguerou was born in Romans-sur-Isère in France on 9 December 1983 and has a French mother and Italian father. Her acting name is Ema Stokholma. She is a radio host for Rai Radio 2, as well as a TV host, writer, DJ, singer and painter. Ema began her career as a model, walking the runway for designers such as Valentino, Versace, Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana.

Ema Stokholma dj
Dress Antonio Marras, jewelry Marco De Luca Gioielli, rhinestone net stylist’s archive

Ema Stokholma talent
Ema Stokholma talent
Ema Stokholma talent
Dress Antonio Marras, jewelry Marco De Luca Gioielli, rhinestone net stylist’s archive

She moved to Italy after having spent years behind the DJ console in Europe’s most popular clubs and began working as a commentator for the biggest events in music on TV and radio for RAI, including the Sanremo Festival, the Brit Awards and Eurovision. Last year, she released her first book “Per il mio bene” published by HarperCollins, where she narrated her troubled childhood. She received the 2021 Bancarella Award for her work. She wrote the book to help other young people struggling, to help them find the light at the end of the tunnel that she had already passed through, victorious.

“My mother would beat me and say: I’m doing it for your own good. But then when you grow up, you think that violence is legitimate in a relationship, because that’s how you were shown love. It’s difficult to realise that it actually wasn’t for your own good”.

Ema Stokholma Instagram
Ema Stokholma Instagram
Left: lace dress Antonio Marras, jewelry Pomellato, shoes Giuseppe Zanotti; right: feather detail dress Antonio Grimaldi

Ema Stokholma book
Ema Stokholma book
Left: dress and shoes Antonio Marras; right: dress Di Liborio, ring Marco De Luca Gioielli, sandals Giuseppe Zanotti

Ema Stokholma fashion
Ema Stokholma fashion
Left: suit Gianluca Saitto, jewelry Marco De Luca Gioielli, sandals Giuseppe Zanotti; right: jacket and earrings Krizia

Credits

Talent Ema Stokholma

Editor in Chief Federico Poletti

Text Alessia de Antoniis

Photographer Davide Musto

Stylist Alfredo Fabrizio

Photographer assistant Michele Vitale

Stylist assistant Federica Mele

Hair Alessandro Rocchi @simonebelliagency

Make-up Giulia Luciani @simonebelliagency

Location TH Roma – Carpegna Palace Hotel

Opening image: dress Antonio Marras

The (in)visible thread of Francesco Gheghi

Posted on by Alessia de Antoniis

Born in Rome on 19 August 2002, Francesco Gheghi is a promising young actor in the Italian movie scene, who in only a few years has already worked with some of the most famous Italian actors, and always in leading roles.

Francesco Gheghi
Jacket Antonio Marras, shirt Comeforbreakfast, rings stylist archive

He’s just finished shooting the upcoming film “Piove”, and the film “Il filo invisibile” was just released on Netflix, where he stars as Leone, the teenage son of two fathers. In May, the TV drama “A muso duro” will air on Rai, telling the story of the first Paralympics held in Rome in 1960, in which Francesco plays the role of a paraplegic athlete. In real life he loves sport: he enjoys swimming, playing football, skiing, biking and rock- climbing.

Francesco Gheghi imdb
Francesco Gheghi imdb
Suit Golden Goose, ankle boots Collini Milano, rings stylist archive

The words of an old Jovanotti song come to mind while we talk: “Sono un ragazzo fortunato, perché mi hanno regalato un sogno…” (“I’m a lucky guy, because they’ve given me a dream…”). And this is precisely Francesco Gheghi, a young professional with a great deal of drive to grow, to learn from older, more experienced colleagues, a young adult who’s grateful for his dream having come true: “being in all the scenes”.

Francesco Gheghi actor
Jacket Edmund Ooi, pants Ramzen, ankle boots and rings stylist archive
Francesco Gheghi Netflix
Jumpsuit Comeforbreakfast, rings stylist archive

“I started acting in elementary school” he tells me during our interview. “My first role was of Saint Francis: not because I earned it, but because my name was Francesco. That’s when I discovered that I liked acting. I graduated high school last year, which was an accomplishment.

Francesco Gheghi Instagram
Jacket Roberto Cavalli, rings stylist archive
Francesco Gheghi series
Jacket Edmund Ooi, rings stylist archive

I had missed so many days of school because I was shooting on the set of two movies, ‘Il filo invisibile’ and ‘Piove’. But it was very important to my mom that I earn my diploma. I got lucky though, since due to Covid the exam was held without a written part. I had a rather winding path through school, as I first began at a linguistic high school, thinking that speaking many languages would be useful for my acting career. But I didn’t like it so I switched to a sport science high school, because sport is another passion of mine. I didn’t like that one either. So finally I enrolled in a human sciences high school and found I was interested in the subjects. I also had good grades”.

Francesco Gheghi style
Francesco Gheghi style
Francesco Gheghi style
Blouse Comeforbreakfast, harness and rings stylist archive
Francesco Gheghi style
Blouse Comeforbreakfast, rings stylist archive

Credits

Talent Francesco Gheghi

Editor in Chief Federico Poletti

Text Alessia de Antoniis

Stylist Alfredo Fabrizio

Photographer assistant Valentina Ciampaglia

Stylist assistant Federica Mele

Grooming Eleonora Mantovani @simonebelliagency

Location NH Collection Roma Palazzo Cinquecento

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