“Every new festival is a welcome addition to the importance of having platforms to show the world cinema to the local audiences also to create new conversations happening in between the crossroads …
“Every new festival is a welcome addition to the importance of having platforms to show the world cinema to the local audiences also to create new conversations happening in between the crossroads between filmmakers, critics, industry and all of that,” said helmer Luca Guadagnino of the second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival.
“It was such a beautiful portrait of America and such endearing characters lost in their loneliness and their sense of abandonment and looking for love,” he said. “All of these themes and textures spoke to me very loudly and I thought, ‘I have to do it.’ Plus, in reading the script, I’ve seen immediately my friend Timothée Chalamet as the lead and I thought, ‘Oh my god if he does it, I have to do it.
[By Your Name] with the most stripped, economical cinematic means possible, whether it was the way we did it, the days, the number of crew but also the language, which was very simple, direct language. Strangely, I had the same thought when I approached . I thought, ‘I want to become invisible as a filmmaker, I want the film to speak for itself. I want the characters to immerse themselves into the landscape.
Guadagnino said reuniting with Chalamet with this project was a wonderful experience and noted how the two had evolved since their last experience working together. Call Me By Your Name and I found the same intelligence and I found a man that is growing up who is really having this great capacity of challenging himself with material and making things that push forward instead of taking a conservative route,” he said. “I think we have grown up. We are grown-ups in different ways. It’s good to continue life together and meet on the artistic side every now and then.”