Michael Guarneri

Michael Guarneri (1988) is an Italian film scholar. His work has been published in journals such as Film Comment, La Furia Umana, BOMB Magazine and Débordements. His main fields of interest are “cinema of attractions”, visual anthropology and contemporary Filipino cinema. In 2012, he made a short film titled Séparation de la critique – A trip with Raya Martin, which premiered at CPH:DOX Festival. More recently he has published Vampires in Italian Cinema, 1956–1975 (2020), Conversations with Lav Diaz (2021), and Conversations with Wang Bing (2024).

“A certain freedom in life”

Wang Bing about Ta’ang and Bitter Money

Michael Guarneri, Jin Wang, 2017
CONVERSATION
29.05.2019
EN

“There is no absolute freedom for any filmmaker. There will always be limitations on various levels, according to the particular conditions a director works in: “less money” causes the “less freedom” of “less money,” and “more money” causes the “less freedom” of “more money”. For certain filmmakers, having little money means having little freedom, for other filmmakers – like myself – having little money means having more freedom, because the low budget makes things simpler and more straightforward. So I would say that a director has first of all to find the suitable conditions to create, to do what he wants to do. A good director always manages to work around – and sometimes break through – these limitations, and achieve his aims.”

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