Pokkoli Productions Videos and Poetry
I am an independent video maker, actor and poet and I have made up my mind to start a blog of my own. Now that the coronavirus has pulled a dark curtain across the stage, I won't be able to invite you to any performances or cine club viewings of my work anytime soon. Here you will find featured my short videos, video essays and occasionally, poems, as well as photos and reflections on my creative process. Hoping you'll find something that will make you laugh or stop to think, I invite you to click and enjoy.
These videos are best viewed on a laptop, but in case you want to watch them on your phone, for best viewing results put your phone in landscape mode.
Questi video si vedono e si ascoltano meglio su un laptop, ma nel caso vogliate vederli sul telefonino, usare landscape mode.
Riflessioni intorno al Tempo.
(Italian version-Versione italiana)
Una poetica meditazione sul Tempo nel periodo della primavera covid 2020.
A Reflection on Time
(English version)
A poetic meditation on Time during Covid Spring 2020
DEBT (English Version)
Freely inspired by "La Casa Venduta" a short story by Federigo Tozzi
Presented at Cine Club Detour, Rome, in February 2020, just in time before lockdown.
(How banks take care of you)
"Il Debito" (Versione italiana)
Liberamente ispirato dalla "Casa Venduta" un racconto di Federigo Tozzi.
Presentato al Cine Club Detour a Roma nel mese di febbraio 2020, appena in tempo prima del lockdown.
(Come le Banche si prendono cura di te)
"The Cosmic Omelette" (English version)
A dystopian sci-fi fairy tale.
Presented at the Cine Club Detour, Rome, and at "The Aegean Arts Circle", Andros (Greece), in 2017.
(How Mother Nature recreates order)
"The Professor's Teeth"(English Version)
Freely inspired by "Le Parole" a short story by Federigo Tozzi.
Presented at the Cine Club Detour, Rome and at "The Aegean Arts Circle" Andros(Greece) in 2016
(What happens when a sensitive student meets a despotic teacher?)
"The Party's Over" (English version)
Freely inspired by stories by F.Tozzi, H.Melville, N. Gogol, F. Kafka.
Presented at the Cine Club Detour, Rome, in 2014.
The video was also presented at the International Conference on Performing Arts in Language Learning held in Rome on October 23-24, 2014.
(The story of the decline of a civil servant, taking some cues from well known writers)
Throwback: A big bug interviews me about a project originally made for the Open University film course 2011.
At the time I had already conceived the idea of making a video about the life of a civil servant which later took its final form in "The party's Over".
About Me
I always wanted to be an actor. My expectations were fulfilled when I met Cristine Cibils, of the Living Theatre, an artist and director who worked with Judith Malina and Julian Beck, and later with actors from Peter Brook's company such as Tapa Sudana. For years she was my coach at the school of the Teatro della Contaminazione in Rome, performing at the "Ex Centrale del Latte". When she moved to Paris I decided to carry on her teachings, founding the cultural association "Officina Culturale Pokkoli & Co." I directed three short theatre pieces inspired by stories by the Italian writer Federigo Tozzi, presented at the "La Maggiolina" and "Anno Luce" cultural associations in Rome.I turned to making videos around 2000 after attending the Maldoror Cinema School in Rome and participating in a directing workshop held in Rome by staff of the New York Film Institute, and completing a video-making course at The Open University of Bath (UK). In 2013, I was certified as a "Glottodrama" Instructor which means that I learned to teach foreign languages through video and drama techniques using a method created by Carlo Nofri and sponsored by the E.U.
About my videos
In making videos I have drawn inspiration from authors like F.Tozzi, M. Duras, who I encountered in my theatre experience, but I have also written original scripts for "L' Anello" ("The Ring"), "La Frittata Cosmica" ("The Cosmic Omelette") and "Riflessioni intorno al Tempo" ("A Reflection on Time"). My videos have been presented at "La Maggiolina," the "Cine Club Detour" in Rome, and at the Aegean Arts Circle in Andros, Greece.
In my videos there's usually a protagonist/antihero who strives for liberation from the constraints and conventions of society. He may solve the conflict with the help of Nature, individual resources, good luck, imagination, or he may also succumb and become a victim. My works are generally ironic/grotesque comedies, but I am also trying to change my style and do something new, as you can see in "A Reflection on Time".
My videos are made simply, just a video camera or smart phone, cheap video editing software, costumes thrown together with whatever is at hand. The actors are generally friends who don't have any acting experience; occasionally they may be drama students. They enjoy expressing themselves in Italian and also in English. I thank them for their collaboration. This blog is also dedicated to them.
The alien character - "The Female Egg" in the Cosmic Omelette.
She appears also in "A Reflection on Time" my most recent video.
And last but not least, you may also find some poems of mine on this blog. Poetry is a wonderful experience because you can convey emotions, sensations, moods, and images -- an entire world of its own--- with just a few lines. You don't need a stage, a screen or an editing program. You just need your mind and words.