Cinema for me is…
Malta – Susannah Farrugia from Europa Cinemas on Vimeo.
Susannah in 23 frames
1. Describe yourself in ten words.
a) severely allergic
b) loving sister
c) cereal-enthusiast
d) made of celluloid
e) fervent list-maker.
2. Your best quality? Your worst habit?
Best quality: creativity, I hope.
Worst habit: excessively cracking my joints.
3. Your dream job?
Screenwriter / Director.
4. What do you like most about your country?
Free Education & Healthcare.
5. Your favorite dish in your country?
Imqaret (deep fried sweet pastry full of date paste and diabetes).
6. Which word or phrase in your native language do you like the most and what does it mean?
“X’qed taghmel?” – What are you doing?
It isn’t a phrase or anything, just the thing I find myself saying the most.
7. What European capital have you visited lately?
Paris, France.
8. Other than your own, which European country would you love to live in?
Ireland or France. If I choose France, does that mean I get to be French too? Because I would very much like that. Be all Godard and inherently cool.
9. What does Europe mean to you? 3 values.
a) Inclusivity
b) Culture
c) Subtitles?
10. What film made you fall in love with cinema?
The Fall (Tarsem Singh, 2006, US).
11. Your favorite film theatre? What do you like about it?
St. James Cavalier (Spazju Kreattiv) because of their art-house selection.
12. Who is your movie hero?
½ Remy from Ratatouille (Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, 2007, US)
½ Faye (Wong) from Chungking Express (Kar-Wai Wong, 1994, HK).
13. Which movie director would you like to be?
David Lynch a.k.a. Gordon Cole.
14. Briefly describe your favorite scene.
Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” (1971) hauntingly opens with a ninety-one second scene that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the oddly retro and comedic dystopian horror show. Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) introduces himself and his three droogs in the fictionalized register, “Nadsat”, that is simultaneously terrifying and humorous. Scored by Wendy Carlos and set in the hypnotic Korova Milkbar, where nude fiberglass figures are used as furniture, the scene is made by Malcolm McDowell breaking the fourth wall, sipping on his milk plus drencrom and sharpening up for a bit of the old ultraviolence.
15. What are the 3 best European films you have seen in the last year?
a) Goodbye Berlin (Fatih Akin, 2016), DE
b) Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015), FR
c) My Golden Days (Arnaud Desplechin, 2015), FR.
16. Which film character do you most identify with?
Corinne Burns (Diane Lane) from Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (Lou Adler, 1982, US).
17. Your favorite soundtrack or song?
Song: “Lux Aeterna” from Requiem For A Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000, US) – Clint Mansell.
Soundtrack: Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003, KR) – Jo Yeong-wook, Shim Hyeon-jeong, Lee Ji-soo & Choi Seung-hyun.
18. If you had to live in a movie, which one would you like it to be?
Mary And Max (Adam Elliot, 2009, AU)
All I ever wanted was to be made out of clay and animated.
19. Your life becomes a bio-pic. Who plays the role of you?
Winona Ryder.
20. Which talent would you most like to have?
Composing music.
21. What is your most treasured possession?
My film archive / my drawings.
22. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Writing a feature film screenplay!
23. What is your motto?
Rewind, Re-watch? *shrug*.