Wednesday 15 June 2022

The Anti-Hero Filmmaker Fabrizio Federico



'Id rather create chaotic films, they're more beautiful.  Parent's hate my movies, cose I deal in state's of mind not discipline. It's the antithesis of professionalism & craftsmanship - more like sorcery. Be childish & irresponsible when creating, with the minimum of means. Regard my projects as epileptic fits.''

An auteur filmmaker. Born in the UK in 1983 and the oldest of  6 siblings, Federico was raised in an Italian/Jamaican culture.  After surviving a house fire in 1989 which started late one night while he was watching Godzilla, him and his family narrowly escaped with their lives, having to escape by jumping out of their upstairs window. All that survived from their house was a photo of his recently deceased grandfather.

He fell in love with cinema as a young boy after moving to Italy. Films such as the Italian Spaghetti Westerns, Casper cartoons and the comedies of Paolo Villaggio (Fantozzi) all made an impression - as a teenager more avant-garde films by Dennis Hopper, Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol & Pasolini  captured his imagination to create movies outside of the mainstream.

After being deported from the USA in 2006 Federico settled back in the UK.
For his debut feature film Black Biscuit (2012) he chose homeless people, sex workers & addicts to star in the film. Raising the funds by nude life modeling & going from door to door asking people to donate a £1.00. Most of the filming was done using car crash stolen cameras, mobile phones and children's cameras. There was no script, and he didn't tell anyone what the movie's plot was about during filming. His only direction was ''just be yourselves and either make me sick, amazed or inspired'' The film was called ''A rubik's cube of images.''

It was around this time that his controversial PINK8 manifesto emerged, which created hostility, uncomprehending indifference and submission in the filmmaking world.

In The Milk Man (2013) became an abandoned vérité film project. The movie focused on a milk man who spiked local families milk bottles with LSD on his morning route's. The project was abandoned after the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) who were notified about the film and threatened to sue over alleged defamation regarding the films subject.

His next film Pregnant (2015) was released, which focuses on technology addiction in the 21st century & the mass hypnosis of a generation''. We witness the Facebook/Youtube generation's inner spiritual stagnation & mass disconnection from society, as they come to grips with this new madness called reality. During the filmming Federico was accused of arson after a misunderstanding concerning one of the films shoots.


During this period Jett Hollywood was born. Federico's alter-ego (Ziggy Stardust's illegitimate son). A filmmaker from Mars.
He promised to create two films and then commit 'cinema suicide'. Evolution Of The Earth Angel (2015) & Anarchy In The UK (2016) were the two films that emerged.
A controversy emerged from a Jett Hollywood's suicide note which appeared online by his alter ego Jett Hollywood which resulted in an inquest. It prompted a disappearance case which revolved around the cryptic note which has since been withheld.
In 2016 the 1st Straight Jacket Guerrilla Film Festival launched 30 international films across the world, exploring today's Underground/Cult cinema makers.

At the core of the film LOON (2017) lies a folie à deux relationship between two cousins, 16 year old Charlie Sheen (who wishes to be called 'Keith' - even though no one does) and his poison minded 18 year old cousin Georgia Sheen; who's aggressive, cunning, sexual personality has hypnotised her younger cousin into doing anything she wishes.

An experimental melodrama with presidential assassination bulletins and a parody of children's record-read along book set. Charlie is a nihilistic icon, he's a kleptomaniac and a compulsive liar living in an incestuous tight knit family who have created a pillow world for him (he's also on prescription tablets - his medical condition is never explained), to sink deeper into his fantasy lifestyle of becoming a famous drummer like his hero Keith Moon.

The climate of Brexit looms as this tragedy unfolds. While unemployed his loner life is largely based on crime, daydreaming and pleasing Georgia's superior super-woman Nietzsche anti-heroine.

To date his last film Teddy Bears Live Forever (2019) about a former 'it girl' suffering from multi-personality disorder was made in a single room with one actress as she unraveles into psychosis, and finally decides to go outside to lose her virginity.

An apt end to a chaotic career.