INTERVIEW with Italian documentarian Barbara Cupisti
My America is a documentary that plays out over four episodes, each one tackling a uniquely American issue facing society and threatening a different part of the US’ governance. Each story is introduced by politicians and experts who made a connection between a certain issue and the United States’ Constitution while explaining the need to have a relevant political discourse today. The film follows the subjects in their everyday life and allows us to discover their world, which is made up of simple yet extraordinary actions. Each story has a different visual palette and editing style and was filmed in geographically different locations to show the expansiveness of the United States as well as its cultural, political and economic diversity. Following the American Dream, the stories come from places like Chicago, Skid Row in Los Angeles and the US-Mexican border in Nogales, Texas.
NEW EUROPE (NE): What was the starting point of this documentary?
BARBARA CUPISTI (BC): I arrived in the US in 2014 and I started focusing on documentaries on human rights and social issues. At first, my goal was to enter the social environment here and understand where I could find interesting stories. I started traveling around and, although there are so many difficult situations and a lot of contradictions, there are people of goodwill that still believe in the American Dream. These people are normal people and activists working every day to meet this objective and a very big percentage of them are immigrants or first-generation Americans. About this project, I started writing it five years ago, then I started working with an American production company searching for stories. I started shooting last year. For me, the priority was to find out if there is still an American Dream and if we can find it. It was important for me to show real people who are still fighting hard for that.
NE: Can you give me some examples of individuals who were involved that you “inserted” into the documentary?
BC: As an example, we see in the documentary an Indian Sikh guy who arrived in the US 30 or 40 years ago and his wife is American. He made money in the US, but he was so shocked to see so many poverty situations around him that he wanted to act and give something back to the community. He bought two food tracks and he opened a restaurant organizing all-night food deliveries for homeless people all around Los Angeles. Then we have the story of Alvaro, a Colombian guy living on the American-Mexican border and the example of an American actor teaching people in need for free in LA and New York. It was important for me to also show the kids from the “March for Our Lives” movement.
NE: How do you see yourself in comparison to important documentarians like Gianfranco Rosi and Michael Moore?
BC: I know Gianfranco Rosi and his documentaries, but my work and my approach are different. I stay focused on the stories and feelings of the people. I also like Michael Moore a lot, but I don’t like to be in my movies, I was an actress for so many years and I don’t want to actually be in the film again. My approach is very fluid, I would say. I’m like a sponge. I start with an idea but then I can change it during my work if the input that I get on the spot is different, I don’t want to force the story in a specific way. I like reportages, so I feel, from the professional point of view to be in the middle between reporter and authorial film. I want to get the storytelling from the people, I’m very focused on the capacity of people to pass their emotions on and truth storytelling, I pay less attention to building the situations around. I focus on the details of why people are telling such stories, I focus on close-ups ups and details of the location where we are.
NE: Maybe the authorities should do more to tackle these problems. What’s your feeling about that?
BC: I was amazed by the movement that Bernie Sanders was able to build. Hw was talking to workers, to kids and to the ones who lost their jobs and homes. During the last elections, his movement was the one who changed the face of this country. I think the institutions are doing something, but this is not enough. I think the real change is in the hands of the “real” people.
NE: What do you think the incoming Biden administration can do to tackle these social problems?
BC: The situation is very serious, if you think about homeless people and immigration issues. I don’t know how much the Biden administration will be able to change this. What I know is that these problems were there even before Trump, but under his administration, the situation got worse and worse. I hope Biden will be able to give important positions to the most progressive members of his movement, inside the Democratic Party. I hope they will start changing some parts of the immigration policy and to allow people who are born here to stay here after they are 18. It would also be important to give citizenship to people that stayed here for many years. I hope Biden will do something against gun violence because there are more guns than people in this country and this is not normal. For homeless people, they should change the policy for renting houses. For example, in Los Angeles, you have to earn, every month, three times more than the rental price. There are also racial issues. If you’re not white, you will not be able to get an apartment.