Erika Errante Baruffaldi was born in Genoa, Italy, the youngest of two children. Her mother is Belgian and her father Italian. Her childhood has always been characterized by a passion for cinema and staging. Her father sold Vcrs and the possibility of having one, allowed her from an early age, to record from television and watch, study and adapt her favorite movies, into home shows for her family.
She was an eclectic child, From 10 to 13 she attended the prestigious dance school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and at age 14 she become a member of the children choir at Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa. During these classical studies she developed her passion to music, visual arts and her innate desire to learn, leads her to write stories and investigate different aspects of art.
She graduated cum laude in 2005 at the Letters and Philosophy DAMS University of Genoa with a thesis on Underground movie by Emir Kusturica, which he met and interview in the same year.
She takes her first steps as a videomaker, production assistant and assistant director working on music videos, commercials, short movies and movies in her hometown. Where there was an opportunity to be on set and learn from the most experienced, she tried to take it “I started working for free on the set, bringing coffee to everyone and cleaning the set at the end of the shooting”.
In this period as a self-taught, she writes and directs her first short film "Bulbo", with a team of friends:
“On the first day of shooting, I panicked, they let me borrow the camera, and they only brought it to me on the first day of shooting. I did not know how to record or adjust the iso... I had little time, so I pretended to be very busy with the direction of the actors and asked the person who lent it on and adjust the iso, while I watched what he did and learned the bare minimum. In those days, it was important for me to look strong and confident. I was the only girl I knew who wanted to direct. Although my friends were happy to help me out, they were all men in the business and I knew they didn’t take my desire to be a director very seriously. I had to have confidence not only for myself, but also for them. I had to fill the lack of trust of others by amplifying my energies”
In 2007 she won the "Torino Capitale Mondiale del Libro" contest with three scripts set in the city of Genoa In 2008 her short film "EartHeart" was selected in the SFC section of the Cannes Film Festival and screened at various national and international festivals. Thereafter she realized some commercials and worked as assistant director.
In 2013 she was selected to attend a Visual Design Master 3D modeling for architects and engineers: "It was the only chance I had to learn how to use programs like 3D Max and Autocad for free. I presented myself at the selection knowing that my background did not match that of the majority of candidates, but in the end they took me and I had this great opportunity". He then began to work as a director of music videos, combining his great passions directing, art, dance, cinema, music and post production.
In this period that goes from 2014 to today she makes about 160 music videos between Italy and abroad with dozens of independent and majors labels and artists (Third Man Records, Universal, Woodworm Label, Sony Music, Island, La Tempesta, Auand, Pippola Music ecc. The Ghost Wolves, Sycamore Age, Umberto Maria Giardini, Technoir feat. Stuart Zender, Timoria, /handlogic, Awa Fall feat. Riccardo Onori, Francesca Gaza, Tancredi, Paolo Gherson, Nudha feat. Appino, One Horse Band, Black Beat Movement feat. Ghemon / Tormento / M1, The Cyborgs ecc).
Some, among his most surreal and bizarre videos, get victories and participations in numerous national and international festivals including: APHRODITE FILM AWARDS 2018 NY (winner), INDIE BEST FILM FESTIVAL 2018 CA USA (winner), NAPOLI FILM FESTIVAL 2019 (finalist), SOUTHAMPTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019 UK (finalist), CORTISONANTI 2018 ITA (finalist), BIENAL INTERNACIONAL DE VIDEO Y CINE CONTEMPORÁNEO VIDEOFEST 2016 and 2014 Mexico.
Today, alongside his work as a music video director, she combines writing, passion for 3D modeling and augmented reality and the timeless hunger for new experiences. Everything she learns during a trip or looking for fossils in the middle of a swamp, becomes a source of inspiration for a new video or a new story. The desire to mix different techniques related to the visual arts in an adventurous way, pushes her to always experiment new ways to tell a story.