Storytelling has always been a passion of mine. Last year I decided to start profiling women that have both interested and inspired me. I believe that there’s something special and unique in everybody and even the smallest detail can be the beginning of an interesting conversation.

I first met Sasha when she was living in New York and her courage,
resourcefulness and strength have always inspired me.
When she moved to my home town of Piacenza, in Italy and opened her photographic studio I thought it might be the right time to start this film project with her. It was a great opportunity for both of us, for me because of my series about inspirational women and for Sasha as a way to sponsor her recently opened studio. Making a film that captures the essence, story and personality behind a business is a wonderful way to advertise and promote it to potential clients.

I had to use my organisational skills to manage well a limited amount of time to achieve everything I needed for the film. During colour grading I decided to go for a slightly warmer and saturated look. Music was another big part of this film, the different tracks enhance the different topics and moods to represent the various periods of her life.

After Sasha agreed to the project, I began working on it and wanted to produce everything myself, from the very first draft of the interview to the final edit of the video. Before starting the project I carefully prepared a storyboard of sequences and ideas from the stories and facts that I knew about Sasha. I developed a series of questions about her life, photographic journey and her studio. During our first conversation we sat for two hours while I took notes. This was very useful to me because I was able to build up a strong profile about Sasha’s life and how she expresses herself.
After this, it was time to start filming. We created a set in her studio in which I didn’t have to worry about the lights as she had all the right equipment.