THE WAY SAM SEES IT, 7min., Australia
Directd by Dan Sanguineti
When Sam, a talented photographer with Down Syndrome, sees a rainbow outside his window, he endeavors to capture his unique perspective of light and color to create his own masterpiece.

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Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
Sam was my motivation! I was Sam's teacher in his accessible film studies class in a wonderful Aussie organisation called Bus Stop Films. Bus Stop Films runs an accessible filmmaking program across many parts of Australia and I was brought on in 2019 to help establish the Canberra program. Sam became our class photographer, taking photos every week, with his mother uploading them to a dropbox I set up. I'd pick the best ones each week and use it as the cover of our class workbooks that included the lesson material for the week. It was clear he was incredibly passionate about photography. Receiving his photo collection each week for 3 years became a routine I looked forward to and enjoyed! Sam's unique point of view fascinated me.
When the story came to me about giving Sam a photography assignment, as a way to highlight his passion and talent and capture it through a short film, I pitched the idea to Sam's Mum, Liz and she was very enthusiastic to support the production of the film.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The film was originally produced for a filmmaking competition here in Canberra. The competition requires participants to shoot a film around Canberra, collecting items to include in the film, such as landmarks or locations around the Australian Capital Territory. They give you 10 days to film, edit and deliver, by only releasing the items list at the start of the competition. It is permitted to write a script and do pre-production prior to the start of production, which for myself and Doug Hall, my cinematographer, was about 3 weeks of planning prior to the shoot.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Sam's Talent!

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The 10 day competition turn around from filming to delivery perhaps was the biggest obstacle. We filmed two half days on the first weekend (Day 1 & 2), and Doug and I both had to return to full time work on Monday (Day 3), while I produced a rough cut after work hours. These scenes were all the shots of Sam taking photos for his collage. During the week, we collated his photos and had them printed for Sam. We then filmed a final half day on the Friday (Day 7), where Sam and his mum collated and ordered all the photos together and assembled his collage. I spent the last weekend of the competition (Day 8 & 9) assembling the footage from the collage shoot and then producing a final cut and master in time for delivery on the last day of competition (Day 10.)

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
With honesty, I had tears well up. I had received a lot of kind but general comments about the film. However, watching the festival's audience share their personal views that, through their analysis and review, deeply broke down things I had purposely wanted to convey in the film and its meaning, was a validation I appreciated completely.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I was 12 years old when my Nonno loaned me his VHS style video camera. It was very late 80s style, large, like a news camera, so too big for a 12 year old, but my Nonno knew that I had interest in visual storytelling. He himself was an artist, sculptor and had been a steel worker since migrating to Australia from Italy in the 50s until he retired to become a full time artist. My dad had become a software engineer and so I think he found joy in his grandson having creative aspirations. This interest carried into when I had the opportunity to study Media in high school. The media teacher, Mr Peter Van Rijswijk, became an instant mentor to me, as he encouraged me to pursue my interests in filmmaking and media. When I graduated and went to University, I had such a fire for filmmaking, equipment and gear and production, but found a lot of frustration with the course I had chosen which ended up being more focused on professional communications than production. Instead of dropping the course, I sought out my own opportunities outside of study hours, and created relationships that allowed me to start making films and even begin my professional career in video production.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
I've watched so many movies in my life many times, so it's difficult to remember which I may have watched the most, but I'm a sucker for blockbuster films and found myself most inspired by the work of Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and James Cameron. So best answer I'd say is possible: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, being a pick from each one of those filmmakers!

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I think even just opportunities like this to share a little bit more about who I am as a filmmaker. My entire filmography demonstrates a gamut of ideas, experiments, passions and interests. Recognition for a particular film is always special, but I've always felt I am so much more than just the one film I submit to a festival.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
I think FilmFreeway is a great way to discover film festivals to submit your films too. But I also think it's still a bit of a risk with submission fees getting higher and some festivals choosing complete online screenings. I don't think an online festival is a bad thing, particularly with how much things have had to change around the world with the last few years of pandemic conditions, but I do believe its made it more challenging to choose festivals that will, if your film is selected, give it decent exposure and put it in front of audiences in the way I'd hope as a filmmaker. I was able to put together a festival budget for The Way Sam Sees It, giving me the opportunity to submit widely and give it a go on more festivals than I usually would - partly because I was really proud of the finished film. Though not all filmmakers have that opportunity, and so I think FilmFreeway can be still very daunting for them. My advice to filmmakers is really to research beyond FilmFreeway and look at engagement of film festivals on social media and on their own websites and make the best decisions for your film based on that research.

10. What is your favorite meal?
My heritage is part-Italian, so I can rarely say no to a bowl of Gnocchi! I'm also part Indian heritage too, and a mild or medium creamy Chicken Korma and rice is just *chef's kiss*.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I feel like I've always got a new project happening.I think keeping a healthy and vibrant slate of projects helps me be current and active within my industry.
We recently released a 8 Part Web Series called 'Fragments' which won Best Web/TV series at the 2022 Canberra Short FIlm Festival, is currently on the festival submission cycle.
I have a sci-fi Virtual Production short I produced called 'Exo-226' also currently in the festival cycle with the first screening coming possibly in September, with festival details yet to be announced pubicily.
I'm currently in pre-production as showrunner and Executive Producer, in collaboration with my Advanced Film Students from the AIE Film School here in Canberra Australia, for a Horror-Thriller Web Series called 'Five Eyes.' We begin shooting this series later this week.
I'm in post production of an Inclusively made Neo-Western film I produced called 'Two Graves', which I hope to finally complete by the end of this month after numerous covid related delays.
I'm also hoping to be working on a new feature film early next year, but this is yet to be greenlit, so I don't have much more I can add to that one, except for I'm excited for all the different projects on my slate!