Meet Jasmine Trinca, member of the Feature Films Jury

Let's go back in a time a bit. How did you get drawn into the cinema?

It was never my dream to break into film and become an actress. Like all children, I dreamed of becoming an archaeologist after watching Indiana Jones! And because I lived in Rome I had everything I needed around me to feed that ambition.

But Nanni Moretti thought otherwise…

My involvement in The Son's Room (2001) came about completely by chance. Nanni Moretti came to my high school one day looking for non-professional actors. I was 18, very shy and had never been interested in drama lessons at school. But I was very curious to meet him, because I really liked him as a director, so I went to the try-outs. We did several of them, spread out over several months, and in the end I was chosen for the role of Irene.

The film was a great success. What impact did that sudden rise to fame have on you?

I was lucky enough to have grown up in a very different world from the film world. So I was able to enjoy the beauty of the moment without it having any influence on me. When we came to present the film at Cannes, I was overcome with emotion related to the experience of having shot the film over almost a year and having shared that with an entire team. My relationship with Nanni Moretti was strong. He was like my teacher. He planted a very serious idea of cinema in my mind which I still have today. I related to him through his filmmaker's view of the world. Now I've grown up and killed the father figure by making my first film, although I had thought I would quit after making The Son's Room.

But once again fate decided to put you in front of the camera…

I didn't immediately accept the fact I was an actress. But two years later, Marco Tullio Giordana, the director of The Best of Youth (La meglio gioventù) (2003), offered me a part in that film, which was originally destined for television. I believe that these things happen to us because on some level we do everything we can to let them. In some way, I wanted to be looked at.

One success followed another after that. Is there one film that changed you?

After those two films, I had difficulty expressing myself in the female roles I played. In Italy, roles for women only existed in relation to men's roles. Since Miele (Honey, 2013) by Valeria Golino and Fortunata (2017) by Sergio Castellitto, things changed. I hope to take on more roles that are different from me. It opens up the imagination. Valeria Golino and Sergio Castellitto widened my horizons with those standout roles.

How have you chosen your roles since then?

I try to portray female characters which also show another aspect of the woman. If I have to play a mother character, it must not be too embedded in the mythology of the mother as society paints her. For Fortunata, I took on this complex role of a woman in turmoil. So there is a political aspect to my choices. Cinema forms the imagination and I think it's important to create different reference points, so that the viewer can see that another world exists.

What remains to be done to bring about respect for equality in the cinema?

Festivals play a very important role in that struggle. Starting with changing the composition of the selection committees, which contributes to changing and enriching their outlook. Since "MeToo", Italian women directors are being asked to lead film projects more often. But as of today we can still see that we still don't have equality. Festivals have to make it possible for female directors to exist. We are going to have to continue the fight, but that doesn't bother me at all, because I enjoy a struggle with a purpose.

Has your move into direction helped further the cause?

I began to feel that the time had come to change perspective. For years I'd been curious about turning the gaze the opposite way. It's always a pleasure to act, because I like it when the attention is on me. But having someone's gaze on you the whole time, particularly if it's a director who idealises you, can become a bit of a burden. By contrast I loved resting my gaze on my actresses. I realised what marvellous creatures actresses are, blessed with a mixture of power and fragility. I was very moved to observe that with my own eyes.