The warmth and magic of Giffoni have bewitched also Elle Fanning, who had the pleasant surprise to recognize among the audience her French teacher, here at the festival with the American jurors. The American actress, who also received the Giffoni Experience Award, visited the festival for the national premiere of Teen Spirit, that will be distributed in Italy by Notorious Pictures from 29 August. The feature marks the directorial debut of actor Max Minghella (The Social Network, The Handmaid’s Tale), who also wrote the script and executive produced it, and revolves around Violet, a sixteen year old girl who lives with her mother. The two women have a hard time to make ends meet every month but Violet has a secret dream: she aspires to become a singer and, thus, when she finds out about the auditions for a talent show named Teen Spirit she decides to try her luck hoping that this will be the big break for her singing career. After a difficult start she manages to get to the final and wins becoming the star she always wanted to be.
“I’d love to play in a movie with you or directed by you one day. What a gift this invitation has been!” Right after seeing her welcome video, the young actress asked for some tissues to wipe her tears away. It took her some minutes to regain her usual charming poise and start answering the questions coming from the international jurors.
“It would be amazing to be a member of this jury one day: I’ve already been given the official orange T-shirt of the jurors my age. I like your style here, you have to be critical and technical at the same time.” To a young girl apologizing for her voice breaking with emotion, Fanning replied: “You’re telling me! Look at my teary eyes! Your welcome video is the most memorable greeting ever and I’ll never forget it. There’s a unique energy here. Now I now that everything I’ve been told is true. You’re really amazing”.
Twenty-one-year-old actress, who, despite her young age, has worked for directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola and J.J. Abrams, said she was stuck by the Giffoni Festival, which she had already heard a lot about from some colleagues of hers who attended it in the past: “Everyone who came here – she revealed – told me about palpable excitement and a positive energy that fills the theater and overwhelms you.”
“I pretty well understand the magic of this place, where 6.200 youth coming from all over the world get the opportunity to watch film premières and approach the world of cinema. At Giffoni, youth can discover the beauty of movie theaters and free their imagination. This festival – added Fanning – is absolutely amazing because gives kids and youth the chance to share their ideas with people their own age through the magic of cinema, which has no equal and is never going to die. As a young woman, I would advise them and myself too to watch the classics of cinema and the movies that made the history of the seventh art”.
