Private Project

Conversazione Privata (I Will Survive)

Jenny, a young actress and stage director, is about to debut with her first piece, a very personal text on the end of a troubled love story. Present and past, imagination and reality, will accompany Jenny during the play.

  • Mutombo
    Director
  • Nausicaa Di Benedetto
    Writer
  • Mutombo
    Writer
  • Antonio Genovese
    Producer
  • Ilaria Spera
    Key Cast
    "Jenny"
  • Antonio D'Emilio
    Key Cast
    "Vince"
  • Fabrizio Eleuterio
    Key Cast
    "Luca"
  • Angelo Coli
    Cinematographer
  • Riccardo Frascarella
    Production Designer
  • Cristina Di Lorito
    Editor
  • Sara Vitale
    Casting Director
  • Fabio D'Onofrio
    Composer
  • Matteo Di Simone
    Sound Designer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Conversazione Privata
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes 34 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 30, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Ivelise Cine Festival
    Rome
    Italy
    November 30, 2018
    Italian Premiere
    nominated Best Cinematography & Best Editing
  • Go Short International Short Film Festival - Nijmegen
    Nijmegen
    Netherlands
    April 2, 2019
    International Premiere
    Out of Competition
  • Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries & Short Film
    Ismailia
    Egypt
    April 14, 2019
    Egyptian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Cinemadamare
    Ascoli Piceno
    Italy
    Main Competition
  • Social Film festival Artelesia

    Italy
    Official Selection
  • Videocorto Nettuno
    Nettuno, Roma
    Italy
    August 24, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Sulmona International Film Festival
    Sulmona
    Italy
    November 7, 2019
    Abruzzo Short Category
  • CortoDino Film Festival Dino De Laurentiis
    Torre Annunziata
    Italy
    November 25, 2019
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Antonio Genovese
    Country: Italy
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Mutombo

Antonio Genovese (Mutombo) was born in Italy in 1990. From the age of 20 he travels around the world until he returns to Italy in 2015 and starts a two-year course in a Film School.

In 2017 he made his first short film as writer and director, "Scala 6". It’s distributed by Premiere Film and obtains some selections and awards in Italian and International film festivals.

In May 2017 he works as First Assistant Director for the film "La porta sul buio", Marco Cassini’s second feature film.
In September 2017 he’s selected among the 20 finalists of the "Pitch in the day", a contest for feature scripts held in Rome, where he had the chance to present the project to 20 among the major Italian producers.

From the end of 2017 and throughout 2018 he’s engaged in the production of his second short film "Conversazione Privata (I Will Survive)" which also sees him as director and writer.

In April 2019 he’s selected among the 20 emerging directors from Europe and Middle East to take part in the “Go Short Campus 2019” during the “Go Short International Film Festival” in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The idea behind the screenplay of "Conversazione Privata" (Private Conversation) comes from two different sources: the text of the famous song played by Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive", and the atmosphere evoked by an empty theater. Then, we start to write a story about a new beginning. A story in which the “hero”, Jenny, a young actress and stage director, is about to debut with her first piece: a very personal text on the end of a troubled love story. And thanks to this strenuous act of strength she will shake the burden of her past and start, finally and freely, to make choices on her present and future life.
While writing, we were increasingly aware on the universality of the story. Indeed, we are all affected by the negative experiences of our past, experiences that hold us back in our future choices. We are afraid of making mistakes again and we just give up, we don’t even try. Jenny shows us that, even if difficult, we must believe it and try it, always.
The story is very little autobiographical if not just for this feeling of risking, of trying, of not settling. When I was just over 20, in a moment of Utopian Romanticism, I decided, from then on, that I would’ve tried to do what I wanted, as I wanted and when I wanted. Surely it was not always like this, you also make compromises, but I enjoyed it when I acted that way, when I disregarded all prejudices and not considered all the obstacles before my goal. I hope this film, even if short, is able to convey this sensation.
The story of Jenny is an intimate and personal one, it could’ve been told in thousands of ways, but we decided to do it big; in fact, being a movie, we tried to spectacularize the emotions of the protagonist. For this reason, the moment of Jenny's new awareness doesn’t happen in a silent and isolated place with her immersed in her thoughts, but it happens in front of a full house theater who applaud to the success of her first play.
Finally, this film has also involved me as a producer, with enormous physical and economic sacrifices, and it involves me as a distributor too. In fact, I preferred not to rely on short film Distributor but to independently choose the strategy and the festivals to which I would send my work.