Skip to main content

A Conversation with Filmmaker Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt

Photo By LV Imagery
Toronto-based filmmaker Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt followed her heart when she was young and had dreams of working in theatre. She performed onstage as an actress and behind the scenes as a playwright. Before long, cinema came calling and she was cast in independent films like the 2015 award-winning comedy "Guess Who’s Not Coming to Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner?," the 2017 dramatic short "Friends on Facebook" and Justin McConnell’s 2018 "Lifechanger." As a producer, she's co-produced several theatre productions and over 50 video productions. 

 In 2018, she made her directorial debut with the short film "Brave Little Army."  The first of a trilogy, the film follows a group of girlfriends from grammar school through adulthood as they develop a bond and support each other in times of difficulty. The film has been shown at festivals all over the world, including Basilicata, Italy, the region of her family's Italian origins.

I spoke with D'Alessandro Hatt about her beginnings, the inspiration behind her wildly successful directorial debut and what it was like to bring her work back to her Italian roots.

You've had a successful career as an actress. What made you change gears and begin directing?
 As I played more and more roles in independent films, I eventually found myself envisioning the stories I wanted to tell through a lens rather than on a stage. That’s when I made the leap to filmmaking.

How did the story of "Brave Little Army" come about?
Four years ago I had the idea for a feature film about the reunion of four lifelong friends that turns into the perfect crime. As I developed the script, I realized there was an opportunity to have two short prequels, showing the women at different stages in their lives. Brave Little Army is the story of how the girls meet at age twelve, and the second short film in the trilogy is set ten years later when the young women are at college. The feature takes place 20 years later.

What I really appreciated about the characters is that they all supported each other in the end. That's an important message because there is a lot of competitiveness, especially in the film industry. What did you intend the message of the film to be? And what was your reason/motivation for wanting to communicate this message?
Thank you. I agree that it’s important to show girls supporting one another. It's starting to get better, but it's true that young women have often been portrayed in movies as mean-spirited and competitive. I wanted to show that girls can be a great source of strength and love for one another.
"Brave Little Army" set photo by Sarah Zanon

As you have origins in Basilicata, tell me about the significance of having your film shown at two film festivals there. Just from seeing your posts on social media, I can tell that it was a very moving experience for you.
Yes, it was an honour to be included in both festivals in the beautiful region where my grandparents are from, and so meaningful to be able to screen my film with so many of my Italian relatives in attendance. I also loved being able to showcase Basilicata on my social media channels as it is a gorgeous part of Italy many people don't know about and don't think to travel to.

Speaking of your Italian origins, do you feel that your Italian-Canadian point-of-view has impacted your films and the way you tell stories?
I grew up listening to stories about mystical, otherworldly happenings in my grandparents’ home village of Pisticci. Tales of werewolves and vampires, of prophetic dreams, and of people traveling to the other side and then coming back to life. I think this family folklore has instilled in me a sense of fantasy and theatricality that I tend to infuse my projects with. Even most of the plays I’ve written have had a surreal element to them.

In your experience, what are the biggest challenges facing women directors?
I’m only a first-time director, so my experience is limited, but from everything I've learned from women at all levels of the industry, the challenges are similar to other male-dominated occupations: it's challenging to get work, to be paid, and to be taken seriously...and there’s also the challenge of being classified based on one’s gender at all. On one hand, there’s a desire to highlight women directors to increase their visibility and chances of being hired, and on the other, there’s the assertion that singling out female directors marginalizes them even further. We don't say  “male directors” so why do we call ourselves “female directors”? I can understand both points of view. 

What advice would you give to young women wanting to become directors?
Don't wait for permission from anyone and don't be afraid to fail and learn - just go for it. We need your stories.

 Any plans for the future that you can talk about?
I can’t wait to shoot the second film of the trilogy, which I’m hoping to do within the next year. In the meantime, I’m writing when I can and thoroughly enjoying sharing Brave Little Army at festivals. I feel so grateful for every screening and audience.

In an update, the film has just become available online. Click here to stream it, and follow Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt's production company, Black Lab Films, for all the latest news.. IMDb, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.








Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Roma 11:00" – The Tragic True Story of Desperation in a World of Poverty

There couldn’t have been a more perfect couple than Lucia Bosè and Raf Vallone in Giuseppe De Santis’ 1952 “Roma 11:00.”  A tragic story based on true events, the film follows several young women in post-WWII Rome as they answer a job listing for a typist. When 200 women are in line on one staircase over several floors, a crack leads to the collapse of the entire staircase. Dozens were injured and one was killed. The tragedy spoke to the poverty and desperation that existed for so many Italians in the early 1950s before the ‘58 industrial boom began.  Cesare Zavattini was one of the screenwriters. Elio Petri was the assistant director who interviewed many of the victims and cast a few in supporting roles. In addition to Bosè and Vallone, the film stars Carla Del Poggio, Massimo Girotti, Maria Grazia Francia, Lea Padovani and Delia Scala. The film is set in Largo Circense 37, while in reality the collapse took place in via Savoia 31, in the Salario district, on J...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Salvatore Giuliano' blends documentary realism with dramatic storytelling

"Salvatore Giuliano" is a 1962 Italian crime drama directed by Francesco Rosi that dramatizes the real-life events surrounding the life and death of the legendary Sicilian bandit and folk hero. Giuliano rose to notoriety after the liberation of Sicily from fascist control in 1943, when he formed a gang that joined a separatist army. When the army dissolved, he and his gang intensified their outlaw activities. One of their most significant crimes was the Portella della Ginestra incident, during which dozens of men, women, and children were killed or wounded. This act prompted the authorities to launch an all-out war against Giuliano. His defenses slowly crumbled, and on July 5, 1959, his body was discovered in the courtyard of a house in Castelvetrano. That moment serves as the starting point for Rosi's film. Giuliano's fame is tied to his involvement in the Sicilian independence movement and his battles against both the Italian government and the Mafia in the 1940s a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait  “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann.  Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gianfranco Rosi to premiere 'Sotto le nuvole' at Venice Film Fest, exploring Naples' history

Documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi will premiere his much-anticipated latest film at the upcoming 82nd Venice International Film Festival , which runs August 27 - Sept. 6. "Sotto le nuvole" (Below the Clouds)  takes a deep dive into the rich history and culture of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. There has not been much information revealed but so far, we know that the film will focus on themes similar to those explored by Rosi in his previous works, such as the examination of Roman culture in "Sacro GRA" (2013) and Lampedusa's refugee crisis in "Fuocoammare" (2016).  The film's synopsis reads, “The land around Vesuvius is a vast palimpsest. On the surface, underground and even beneath the sea of the modern city of Naples and its surroundings, the memory of history is etched into tunnels, walls and fissures, the remains of women, children and men — statues, buried cities. Only thin layers separate contemporary and ancient life, an...
Post a Comment
Read more