Set in a cinematographer’s dream in the midst of the picturesque landscape of the Italian Apennines, director Marco Pattarozzi’s Butterflies (Farfalle) is a haunting thriller tinged coming-of-age tale of youthful impetuosity, embarking on adulthood and how prejudice and repression cultivate a persistent sense of inadequacy. Born out of Pattarozzi’s conflicted bond with home and the long-held relationships fostered there, the script came naturally and provided the writer/director with an ideal opportunity to showcase his region while concurrently recounting a powerfully lacerating narrative. Butterflies doesn’t just focus on those on the cusp of adulthood but also examines the intergenerational clashes and intricate relationships inevitably found in smaller rural communities for good and for ill. With Butterflies premiering on DN today, we invited Pattarozzi to speak to us about the motivations behind his desire to cast actors with regional accents native to the area, receiving crucial funding from the council and local business, and how this project enabled him to gain a greater understanding of both himself and the place he calls home.
I love the way you weave together pangs of belonging alongside the loss of youthful innocence. Why did you want to frame the narrative around such a horrific central incident?
Sometimes you are unaware of the toxicity of a situation until it shows itself in the most overwhelming ways. Among the young people from the Apennine province I come from, change is often a source of excitement but also uncertainty. During my time in university, I realized this feeling was shared by many other students from other parts of Italy. I think that at some point in their lives, a lot of people go through a state of stagnation. Should I leave or stay? Come back? Maintaining a balance between the new life and ties to their hometown is crucial for many young people dreaming of other worlds or just beginning to explore a different dimension of life outside their province. Balancing that relationship and finding a conscious position can be quite challenging.
Alongside my co-writer Samuele Allori we started to dive into the film by exploring the metaphor of ‘having butterflies in your stomach’, often associated with joyful feelings and circumstances. However, we thought that many times people hold onto those butterflies, allowing repression to take front stage, occasionally with terrible results. Typical of the impasse between the path of dreams and the toxic emotional dependency on one’s microcosm, Caterina (and not only her) finds herself in limbo, undoubtedly for emotional reasons. Feeling out of place is the resultant condition, which might cause us to be victims of unfortunate events. This is what Cate and Pat go through even though the outcomes are different.
We aimed to create a drama – reflecting our experience and that of friends – that also had a strong thriller component, entwining the elements of both.
Other times awful efforts are made to unite two worlds, or two people, or two slightly conflicting dreams leading to actions that are later regretted and risk breaking both desires. For us, this state of uncertainty and emotional repression includes unsettling and, from indirect experiences, even dangerous elements. Thus, we aimed to create a drama – reflecting our experience and that of friends – that also had a strong thriller component, entwining the elements of both. Although the environment you come from can feel oppressive, occasionally caution pays off. There are moments when you realize that people you have known your whole life – despite sometimes being narrow-minded, occasionally xenophobic, or resistant to change – will always be close to you and you can always identify their genuineness simply because you’ve lived their story too. Though I love my hometown and wouldn’t want to present it poorly, I hope that in the future people will grow more open-minded and understanding while still preserving the genuineness and authenticity that distinguish it.
What were the next steps moving into production?
Since we knew this story would have been valuable to tell and promote a stunning part of the Apennines that is rarely depicted in cinema, we found the great support of the Regione Emilia Romagna, who financed this short alongside some local companies that are very supportive for the local community. We then decided to self-produce the short film with our young production company, Sick Pine Video. Butterflies was our first fiction production with a considerable budget. We focused our casting on searching for actors who both have experienced those sorts of situations and had Emilian (or similar) accents for the role. Caterina Nardini and her sister Elisa were born and raised near the film’s setting. Two years were spent from the writing to the final post-production steps. Then we had a year and a half for festival distribution with Premiere Film, the largest distributor for shorts in Italy. Up to this moment that I am speaking, it has been almost four years before the short film’s release.
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It’s so wonderful to hear about local regions in Italy supporting the arts and productions such as yours. Can you tell us more about their and other companies’ support which brought the production to fruition?
The main green light for the production of Butterflies came when the Emilia Romagna Film Commission – who I’d like to thank once again – selected the project to be included among those that would receive regional funding. Particularly for independent works set in the area, institutions like this are priceless. Additionally, we’re very proud to have involved local municipalities and key companies that show a strong commitment to the area and a deep sense of social responsibility. Part of my work is closely related to enhancing the tourism value of locations, and I firmly believe that initiatives like this also help build the storytelling of a place.
Why was it key for you to have actors with authentic regional accents in the roles and did this make casting more of a challenge?
For stories like these, I think the environment is essential to convey authenticity and, ironically, to make the narrative and the characters more universal and significant. We wanted to honor the moods and circumstances we had gone through over the years; therefore, a sense of belonging to a place was just as important as the accent of the major protagonists. In Italy, accents and dialects have a strong impact on peoples’ attitudes and ways of life. We were looking for elements that fit the lifestyles of the people living in the areas we intended to set the story. Our primary references were people and situations we actually know. This undoubtedly set specific restrictions for the casting, but I must say we still received a lot of applications, including some truly excellent proposals.
For stories like these, I think the environment is essential to convey authenticity and, ironically, to make the narrative and the characters more universal and significant.
In Italian cinema, geographical and regional identity are fairly common motifs; particularly in independent films, there are often specific criteria regarding the accent or background of an actor. Usually, this results in plenty of submissions. I think this is something that can enhance an artist’s identity and encourage their involvement. Sisters in both the short film and real life, Caterina and Elisa were already known to us. While Elisa had been studying acting for some time, Butterflies was Caterina’s first experience in cinema coming from the world of fashion. To be honest, part of the inspiration for her character came from observing some of her fashion photos; the photographers did an excellent job with her. Though she wasn’t used to acting, I was confident that I could work with Caterina as she immediately embraced the script. Together, we soon realized that both she and Federico Valentini (Patrick) could deeply empathize with the sense of inadequacy that marks their characters, caught between two worlds, between roots and dreams, feeling out of place on one side and maybe too certain about the future on the other.
There is a lot of artistic momentum, but also a significant shortage in terms of production resources.
What did you learn and what experience did you gain working on a bigger production with a higher budget?
Perhaps I’ve realized that having a larger budget doesn’t necessarily mean facing fewer obstacles. Initially, during the pre-production stages, it was a real challenge for us. Samuele and I were also producers of the short film and directly encountered the difficulties that often arise behind the production of short films, at least in Italy. There is a lot of artistic momentum, but also a significant shortage in terms of production resources. I’ve learned that trying to diversify resources and improve problem-solving abilities is always helpful when it comes to film production. Furthermore, especially for short films, it’s not just about finding the right artists, but ensuring that they are genuinely committed to the project’s vision. It’s not just a matter of finances. Making Butterflies let us understand that a good distribution of resources is a main key to achieving efficient and healthy collaboration throughout the process.
The wild Apennines are their own character here, how did it feel to you to be able to film in a location so weighed down with nostalgia and your desire to capture it in the ‘right way’?
Looking back, Butterflies also offered me a chance to gain a deeper understanding of a place I feel I belong to. Our desire to tell a story about those Apennines was mostly motivated by a great sense of nostalgia for a land I know as home. However, it was important for me to delve into the bond with that territory, into the core this place/personality relationship has or the youth of today. I think the melancholy and authenticity tied to certain provincial communities runs very deep and harbors as much goodness as contradictions, which are worth highlighting in today’s world. I wanted to make a film that questioned this balance: between the visible and the invisible, between light and darkness, and above all, between the exterior and the interior. In the end, this ambiguity could be the defining feature of certain regions, particularly through the eyes of people who dream of connecting and bringing those places closer to the rest of the world. One benefit I personally experienced is that learning to become aware of it can help you understand far more about yourself.
The cinematography made me feel like I could step into the frame and be there, tell us about developing this with Luca Nervegna.
Working with Luca and getting to know him turned out to be a quite positive experience. We immediately agreed on maximizing the use of natural light, both for exteriors and interiors, day and night scenarios. Making the landscape an additional protagonist in our story was a priority, but I knew I didn’t want to create purely naturalistic sequences. For me, the focus was on the relationship between the place and the characters – how they move and live within it and every shot needed to include both.
Making the landscape an additional protagonist in our story was a priority, but I knew I didn’t want to create purely naturalistic sequences.
Given the frequent set moves and often difficult-access locations, we decided to combine a Red Komodo 6K and the Arri Zeiss Master Prime lenses. This setup was agile and efficient, while also delivering a very satisfying and natural look, thanks in part to our colorist, Walter Cavatoi, who was extremely proactive and open to collaboration. The crew was excellent; we worked very well with the entire camera and grip department. Even when we changed from a dolly to handheld shots, they were all quite fast to adjust to the several environmental and lighting situations. Luca’s insight was crucial in making certain scenes essential, emphasizing wide shots and full-body framing where body language was more meaningful than anything else. His work was very instructive; we appreciated his experience, which greatly enriched the film and taught me a lot personally. A fun fact was that, in a way, he also assumed a somewhat paternal role on set, being slightly older than a largely young team.
Along with micro-flashbacks, the non-linear flow of events was meant to mimic how memory works in the aftermath of a traumatic event.
Talk us through the editing of that final stretch where we are flashing back to the party and everything that happened needs to be conveyed wordlessly.
From the very beginning of the writing process, I wanted editing to play a key role in allowing the story and events to be seen from different angles. The plot structure was a gamble taken during the scripting stage. Although our main perspective is Caterina’s, the way events unfold after that party in the woods gives the viewer a chance to shift their point of view. It was crucial to let the editing shape a structure which would have instilled doubt around the nature of the characters: friends and enemies, victims and offenders. Along with micro-flashbacks, the non-linear flow of events was meant to mimic how memory works in the aftermath of a traumatic event. We navigate and re-navigate the events just as Caterina does in that moment. Thanks in large part also to Filippo Cimatti’s work on the music, occasionally the juxtaposition of images, sounds, and colors – often seemingly insignificant – speak louder than a thousand words.
What have you been working on since completing this and where are you now with your filmmaking?
I’m currently in the pre-production stage of a new short film, a snowy drama set in a ski resort written by a colleague who assisted us with Butterflies. In the meantime, I’m working on the script for another dramatic short that revolves around competitiveness in sports and young people’s lives. Advertising projects and clients take up a lot of room in my work, but saying very very quietly I’m trying to lay the groundwork for a future feature film.
