Interview (1/3)

Italian director and writer Paolo Doppieri on the cover image of the article dedicated to him in the Creative Close-Up column of the Hungarian online magazine Reklámtörténet

Ottobre 15, 2024

Levente Kovacs interviews Paolo Doppieri for the “Creative Close-Up” column, dedicated to professionals from the creative industries worldwide. You can read the original article on the Reklámtörténet website by clicking HERE, or read an extensive excerpt below. PART 1.

Where were you born. And why?

I came into the world in a quiet town upon the hills surrounded by medieval city walls and nestled in the countryside a few kilometres from the sea.

If you imagine Italy as a boot, I was born on the calf. The same spot in which my parents, two impeccable and quite traditional teachers, had grown up and met.

I guess they were keen to achieve their idea of family by having an heir that could make them proud and reflect their values… that’s why they had other kids ;-)

What was your first encounter with creativity?

My first creative experiences are strongly related to sickness.

When I was a child I was quite delicate and I would spend a lot of time confined to bed. At that time my best friend was my grandfather, who used to visit me very often bringing coloring books as a gift. However, that drawings felt cramped to me and after a promising beginning I started to alter and warp them. My mother would prompt me to color within the lines and disapprove my inclination to overflow.

My grandpa didn’t: he encouraged me to go my way. Alberto, a slender man with piercing eyes who had survived the horror of trench warfare, has been my mentor.

“Even though my mother didn’t understand my tastes and interests, she taught me to be determined and never be daunted by failures.”

What was the most important lesson you learnt from your parents?

Even if they knew I was the black sheep of the family, my parents never stopped supporting me and encouraging me to believe in my abilities.

Even though my mother didn’t understand my tastes and interests, she taught me to be determined and never be daunted by failures.

Moreover, she and my dad have always been an invaluable example of dignity and unselfishness to me.

If you had a time machine, where would you travel?

Istinctively, I would like to beam me up into the caravan of one of those travelling theatre companies which during the XVI century used to wander across Europe giving rise to the revolutionary phenomenon of all-Italian “Commedia dell’Arte”. However, I have issues with other people’s body odor, so I cannot consider times and contexts in which personal hygiene wasn’t at least appreciated.

That’s why I would opt for Cinecittà during the early ’60s, where besides the Dolce Vita there were a great artistic buzz, an amazing technological experimentation, and a marked tendency towards the deprovincialization of Italian products, which at that time were often taken as an example and could aspire to conquer international markets much more than they do now.