HAVENS
BIOGRAPHY
Elena Griggio was born in Venice in 1991. She is an Italian director, playwright, and actress.
Mostly dedicated to theatre, she studied in U.K. (LAMDA) and in France (CAIRH – Centre Artistique International Roy Hart).
She performed in Tino Sehgal’s opera Yet Untitled, winner of the Golden Lion Prize in Venice Biennale 2013.
Since 2014 she’s been working with Teatro Valdoca, renowned theatre company founded by Cesare Ronconi and Mariangela Gualtieri.
After her debut with the award-winning short film HAVENS – Rifugi, she’s now releasing her first feature film in 2022: REALITY – Realtà.
Filmography:
HAVENS – Rifugi (Short Film) – 2020
REALITY – Realtà (Feature Film) – 2022
Do you have a possible answer to the rhetorical question? (“What will last at the end of a world, the inner one or that you may have built with somebody?)
On one hand, memories and dreams remain. The former is linked to the past and the latter to the future. This is probably Adam’s attitude.
On the other hand, a pure present remains, as we can see through Eva’s approach.
I wanted to explore the dialogue between such different ways of living, most especially when life itself is shared between the two.
The relationship depicted by this couple seems so real, standing between their recent past and their immediate future, such as you stated.
Do you believe this naturalism has to do with your both theatrical experience and expertise?
It could be; both of the protagonists are part of the theatre company where we met and worked together for many years. Ondina most especially has a career in film and television too, still she preserved her theatrical roots.
It’s interesting to work in cinema with a “theatrical attitude”, in my feature film Reality it’s even more evident. I understand that this style can’t always be appreciated, after all it’s very peculiar…
still it gave me the chance to explore the two worlds and their differences. As well, it gave me the pleasure to work with extraordinary actors and to keep what I learnt from my career in theatre, taking some risks of course. It’s part of the game.
Was it easy to find out the scenic isolated location for the stilt house? Where is it?
It was easy only because I live in Venice… and the stilt houses are the nets storage of the fishermen of Pellestrina, an island not far away from my home.
It wasn’t obvious though that one of them would have been the perfect location for HAVENS. I had to see them in the sunset, one day I was driving my father’s boat around Pellestrina.
My father saw my face and even if I didn’t say a word he knew immediately I had an idea.
