Actress Claudia Gusmano
At just 31-years-old director Marta Savina embodies Italian cinema’s bright future.
Her short film, Viola, Franca is based on the true story of a young Sicilian woman in 1965 who was being forced to marry her rapist because of a custom known as “reparation marriage”; the rapist marries his victim and “saves” the woman’s reputation. Seventeen-year-old Franca’s simple act of refusing to marry her attacker and insisting that he be arrested was monumental in establishing rights for women in Italy. In fact, hers was the first rape trial in the country.
And yet, Savina says that it was important to her that the rapist, Filippo (Carlo Calderone) wasn’t portrayed as “just some evil guy”.
“This is probably controversial, but in a way he’s almost like the victim”, she says. “He was just how some men were, and that’s just how you treated women.”
“Franca’s definitely not a victim. She fell victim to violence but she bounces back. He, on the other hand, was a product of that society”, says Savina.
Claudia Gusmano
Claudia Gusmano, who plays Franca, says that the first time she watched the film she turned to Savina and said, “Is that me?” because she almost didn’t recognize herself. She says that she cried because she saw so many qualities in Franca that she wished she had.
The most surprising thing of all about Viola, Franca is its length, just 15 minutes long. “We have just 13 minutes to tell the story”, says Savina, “and that’s hard because you have to be really, really disciplined and put in the very central things that you need to tell the story.”
“Otherwise you end up just muddying the waters and losing the focus. We really stripped out anything that wasn’t vital.”
As for the real Franca Viola, Savina says that she’s met her and that they agreed not to share what they’d talked about. “She’s obviously a very private person.”
Carlo Calderone, Marta Savina and Claudia Gusmano
“I did a lot of research and I hope I found the essence of the character. It’s a biopic, of course, but you have to let the character live and breathe.”
And there’s good news; according to Savina this short film is just chapter 1 of a feature length film that is in the works. “We’re getting together the financing right now, because obviously there is more to the story”, she explained.
The film is especially important to Savina because she says she really wanted to inspire young girls. “If she could do it”, says Savina, “maybe I can do it as well.”
