Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/602004
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2015 32 Anorexia isn't only the main focus of My Skinny Sister – your debut feature film – but it was also the subject matter of a previous short film of yours, 'Eating Lunch'. What drew you to this subject? I wanted to make this film because eat- ing disorders are so common and yet it hasn't been told in many fiction films be- fore. I felt very strong it had to be made and I also wanted to tell a strong story about sisterhood. Eating disorders are like any other abuse, it is both the sick person and her family and friends who get in- volved and we have seen plenty of films about alcohol or drugs. Another reason for me was of course that I had anorexia myself when I was a teenager and I knew I wasn't alone with this experience. What led you to choose a child's perspective to tell this story? What kind of advantages did it give you as a writer-director, and how did it help you shed light on anorexia? It was easier to look at the disease from a distance since I had been sick myself. Stella and Katja are two sides of myself. The healthy side (Stella) and the sick side (Katja). Stella is mirroring herself in Katja as she grows up. She also wants to be seen and loved the way Katja is but no one sees Katja is sick. To me, this is what the sickness is about. In society everyone adores perfect, skinny, beautiful people before they get a diagnosis. I also think a young girl gave a warmer, more humorous touch to the film. What do you hope younger viewers will get out of this film? On that note, how did you bal- ance out the narrative's 'didactic' elements with the need to first and foremost tell a dramatic and engaging story? Or were they one and the same in your mind? In my mind, they were the same. I think of the story as a love story between two sisters and how they both struggle to be seen for who they are. I just wanted to tell a moving story. I didn't think of the story as a "lesson", or anything like that. It was just an ex- perience I knew would resonate with the audi- ence, and make them feel less lonely. And that's a beautiful thing about films – connect- ing people through emotions. What would you say are some of the chal- lenges the contempo- rary European film- maker faces, and do you think that having a 'topical' issue like anorexia at the core of your film helped to push it to prospective financiers? I don't know… you have to ask the financiers! I would like to think it was the film itself that moved them, not the topic. But as I said, I also know the topic wasn't really addressed in film previously, so perhaps it was the right story for the right time. I think we have to do something better about the digital market. We have to accept that the younger generation is finding films on the internet, and make it into some- thing legal. My Skinny Sister will be screened at St James Cavalier Cinema, Val- letta on November 21 at 15:00, as part of this year's edition of the Ziguzajg Arts Festival for Children & Young People. The film is rated 12+. For more information and bookings, log on to: http://www. ziguzajg.org/. This Week On the thin edge of the wedge Ahead of its screening as part of the Ziguzajg Arts Festival for Children & Young People, TEODOR RELJIC speaks to Swedish director Sanna Lenken about her debut feature film, My Skinny Sister, which tackles the difficult topic of anorexia through the lens of a young protagonist Sanna Lenken Amy Deasismont as Katja and Rebecka Josephson as Stella in My Skinny Sister Ray Piscopo: AN engineer by profes- sion, Ray Piscopo first entered the world of art in the early 1970s when, as a student at the Jun- ior Lyceum in Hamrun, he was tutored by one of Malta's greatest, the late Antoine Camilleri. Although Ray has stud- ied various techniques under a myriad of artists since then, including the human figure under the supervision of Anton Calleja, and ceramics with George Muscat, Ray's talent has been self-nurtured through trial-and-error. "While I participated in various master-class workshops in Aus- tria and Italy, and took multiple sessions of supervised, hands- on tuition under renowned in- structors in mosaics, ceramics, life-drawing and painting, I have never followed any academic or artistic studies," he explains. "I believe myself to be a self- taught artist who experiments with colours and materials," he continues. "I do, however, keep myself abreast of the global art scene through subscriptions to online magazines, studying art books, and by visiting foreign art museums." As we sip on our coffees at the Orange Grove Art Café within the Corinthia Palace Hotel & Spa, my eye wanders to the hang- ing sculptures that have been re- cently set up. Ray, you see, is also the official curator of the Orange Grove Art Café's Artist of the Month series, which provides artists with a space to showcase and sell their work to both locals as well as visitors. "It just happened!" he tells me, when I ask him about his role here. "But it's been wonderful, and it's also an exercise in choos- ing the right pieces to comple- ment the place. See, I person- ally have no inhibitions about art themes to be exhibited, because I believe art expression should not be restricted or subdued, but I recognise that the Orange Grove Art Café is not an art gallery per se, but forms part of a prestigious hotel where all sorts of people stay at the hotel, and who can be adults or minors. "This, for lack of a better word, forces me to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, which is important both for curators and artists. Now it comes natu- rally that any art chosen for ex- hibition should respect the sen- sitivities of residents and visitors alike, and at the same time be complimentary to the cool ambi- ance at the Orange Grove." This sensitivity towards the au- dience is something that Ray ex- ercises in all his work, however. Having known him for a good number of years, and as a proud owner of a Ray Piscopo, it is clear that Ray chooses his subjects – just like he chooses the pieces to go on display – in a way that inspires and prompts emotions without being shocking for no particular reason or just for the sake of it. As we return to discussing his art, he cites the old masters as his ultimate inspiration, but reveals that it was the day-to-day life that became the focus for his two up-coming exhibitions as part of his Abstract Rhythms in Nature series. "People and what they do in life can be so interesting," he ex- claims. "The Maltese Lace Maker, The Medieval Piper, The Busker Violinist, The Beggar Boy, The Clay Potter, The Pigeon Man… They all have a story and these paintings tell a part of it!" It has taken Ray about year to put together the main collection of figurative works, which add up to an incredible 29 large-format acrylic on canvas paintings. Ray, in fact, is a very hard-working artist, sometimes spending more than 18 hours a day of prepping and painting. "I take pleasure in doing eve- rything myself – except for the stretcher frames, which I order from a carpenter," he tells me. "I then proceed to stretch the can- vas by hand onto the stretcher frame and stapling it, apply a gesso primer and then the real work starts by sketching the ar- eas where I need to go into detail and then apply acrylic paint using a variety of hand made tools." This process is used for all of Ray's paintings, including the 10 From his figurative paintings right through to his abstracts, Ray Piscopo is an artist whose command of colour can transport you into another world. Here, IGGY FENECH chats to the man behind the brush in the lead-up to his two-upcoming exhibitions Ray Piscopo