Fortissimo a Film Written, Directed and Produced by Janine Piguet won Best Short Films award at Cinefern Film Award and Competition's December 2020.
The Film is about A pianist arrives in her new flat. But as soon as she rehearses, her neighbour tries everything possible to stop her from playing. A sound war starts between the two women, very rapidly bringing all neighbors to their windows. When the police arrive, they witness a crowd of hysterical neighbours shouting at each other and take the side of the pianist, the only one who at that moment, after a moment of intense madness, is playing a serene Mozart piece.
Janine Piguet is an actress and director who grew up in a tiny village in the Italian part of Switzerland before moving to Paris and London with her parents at 5 and 10. Her family was a family of musicians which lead her to write about music and musicians a lot. She trained as an actress at “les Enfants terribles” in Paris and as an actress and director at European act, a class between la comédiefrançaise in Paris, the Royal academy of dramatic arts and the actors’center in London and Mitstadttheater Berlin.
She acts and sings and dances in different theater plays in France and England before acting in feature films in France and Switzerland mainly. At some point she longs for telling her own stories and starts writing scripts for others and then for her own films. Fortissimo is her second short film and it has won 24 awards so far. It is based on the story of her mother, a pianist.
Interview With Janine Piguet
Q: What is the basic Idea Behind the film?
Janine Piguet : The idea was to tell the story of that pianist moving in, who just wants to rehearse, but who gets involved into a huge musical fight with her neighbour. The theme behind that is how everyone is protecting the comfort they are living in, silence or the music we like being one very important criteria for us.
Q: How do you handle the Pre-Production, and Post Production?
Janine Piguet : I have someone producing me so they have asked for funding in different places in order to finance the film. Once it was financed, we started with the location scouting that took a very long time till we found the spot that was perfect to tell this story.
Q: What do you do to stay calm during Production of the film?
Janine Piguet : I don’t stay calm, hahaha.
Q: What sort of stories excites you?
Janine Piguet : At the moment I am writing about how traumas work. I am writing a short film about traumas in the life of an old woman and I am writing a feature about traumas in the life of a young migrant.
Q: Do you think all the good stories have already been made into a movie?
Janine Piguet : No I rather think that all the good stories are out there in the world and that you can find them by just observing people.
Q: While casting for your film you prefer to cast a well known face or any new face which fit the character?
Janine Piguet : I am looking for that specific character and I don’t privilege famous or known people over unknown people, I am just looking for the best actor. I don’t privilege a certain look or nationality if the character does not require it. I am really looking for the best person for the part.
Q: What is the most enjoyable thing about Production of the film?
Janine Piguet : Slowly observing how something you have in your mind is coming into reality
Q: What is the best possible way to promote your film when you are on a tight budget?
Janine Piguet : Festivals and trying to meet as many buyers as possible face to face.
Q: When your next film is coming and what is it about?
Janine Piguet : My next film is about traumas resurfacing in the life of an old lady, we are looking for tha budget to shoot it at the moment.
Q: What advice do you want to give to the new and upcoming filmmakers?
Janine Piguet : Try to have as little characters as possible and one or two sets maximum, so that the film does not cost too much. Like that, you are more likely to shoot it. And then make as many films as possible, to train, before moving on to a feature film.
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