At the halfway point, the Marina di Villasimius festival, now in its eighth edition, hosts this evening at 9:30 pm, with the media partnership of the L'Unione Sarda publishing group, Stefano Bollani and Valentina Cenni, in conversation with artistic director Francesca Serafini about "Tutta vita," Cenni's first feature film.
How did the idea for a documentary about jazz come about?
Cenni: "From my desire to tell the story of a jazz musician's way of experiencing music, which is very interesting because it's full of freedom, awareness, and wisdom. It's a courageous approach to things, so for me, jazz in this film became a metaphor: if we experienced events in life the way a jazz musician experiences music, everything would be better. This is the premise, and then it turned out to be a meeting between people who love each other deeply and who love music in such a way that it becomes the protagonist of their lives."
A transgenerational encounter: from 21 to 86 years old.
Cenni: «That was what interested me: bringing them together to show that in that way of experiencing music, age or origin doesn't matter... everyone is there in a very horizontal way, experiencing music and interacting with each other with great curiosity».
What did you discover by looking at yourselves through the lens of the documentary?
Bollani: "They're all good people. I mean, for me, they're great musicians, or extraordinary young talents, like Mascetta and Mancuso, whom I know a little less well; one of them is actually my daughter, so there's a different kind of intimacy, but overall, they're great musicians, great friends, people I feel good with, but I'd never realized they're truly wonderful people. Beautiful souls, happy with what they're doing."
Cenni: «I was struck by their ease and the ease with which they created something new together».
In short, we should all try to be a little more jazzy.
Bollani: "I'll sign this for you. In my limited experience, an artist who is happy with their success, who is content with the role they are playing in society and the artistic community, is necessarily at peace. Unhappy people put on airs: they might be incredibly famous, but there's something they feel they haven't achieved. Peaceful and happy people are those who are content with what they've achieved or what they're doing."
