The DDD: Dream, Develop, Direct

From the left: Villeneuve, DuVernay,
Jenkins, Lonergan and Chazelle.

Last Wednesday I had one of the greatest opportunities… attend a panel with 2017 Oscar nominated film directors Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Denis Villenueve (Arrival), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) and Ava DuVernay (13th). It has been such an honor to be able to listen to these five people speaking their minds about their  Academy Awards nominated movies, their directing career, their stylistic and aesthetic directing choices, and also about their perspective on life and the world. I love to listen to such inspirational people!!!

As a prospect future director, I have absorbed all the possible information getting out of the mouths of these wonderful people. In particular I would like to quote the most inspiring sentence of the night “Traditions are always changing” (Ava DuVernay). Most of you will be thinking “well, that obvious! Why would the freaking blogger think that those words were the most important of the night?!? Pff…”, but let me add a little more context and I’m sure you'll get why I’m saying so. If you have ever noticed… all film directors are men, ain’t that true? I’ll answer that for you: “yes, they are!”. But Ava DuVerney is evidently a woman and at the same time an Oscar nominated director 😱. While she was narrating how she became director, she told the audience that initially she was just a publicist for other film directors because in the industry no woman was ever a film director. But then, when she tried, she found out that she was actually able to direct movies as any other of her male coworkers. Traditions are always changing, and now its the time to change gender stereotypes set by traditions. I was the one who started the applause as soon as she finished the story about the start of her directing career. Let’s go, women’s power!!!

Damien & I

After the conference with the directors, I went out and I managed to shake hands and tell “You are so inspirational” to the amazing young director of La La Land and Whiplash, the 32 years old Damien Chazelle!!! I don’t know why but out of all the people that were waiting outside, I was the first person he talk to! I felt so important hahahahaha and he even let me take a picture with him… wow!!! Such a wonderful night… Getting in the heads of these awesome people makes me feel a step closer to my possible future as a film director.