Blackmoll

Alessia Mandanici is an independent filmmaker holding an MFA in writing and directing from NYU Tisch School's Graduate Film Program. Born in Mainz, Germany, she discovered her passion for film during her BA in Communication Design. While deepening her visual skills as a cinematographer, editor, and designer in Berlin, she gained a broad spectrum of production experience for clients such as Google, ARD EinsPlus, and the Berlin State Ballet. Alessia's award-winning narrative films were screened at Oscar-qualifying film festivals around the globe, including the Berlin International Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, St. Louis Film Festival, and the Austin Film Festival. She is a 2022 NYU Production Lab fellow and currently in development of her debut feature film titled "Wiegenlied," a story exploring the emotional impact of childhood trauma and abuse. Her cinematic work is strongly influenced by her enthusiasm for intra-family and inter-generational structures and dynamics. She describes herself as a multi-disciplinarian whose aesthetic approach to filmmaking has been profoundly shaped by being a designer and a musician since an early age. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT A few years ago, when my grandmother developed medically unexplained hallucinations out of the blue, my family and I were suddenly overwhelmed and at a loss. Being a robust and amazingly stubborn 82-year-old Sicilian woman, she saw absolutely no reason to adjust her lifestyle to the new situation — which drove my father (her son) and my aunt (her daughter) crazy. The stories I was told of her were difficult to reconcile with the image I had of my supposedly healthy grandmother. My opinion changed when, during one of my visits home, she was convinced that she had seen a black, furry animal under her walker and asked me to "go hunting". I didn't know it yet, but the idea for "Blackmoll" was born at that moment. For me, the poetics of this story lie in Karla's desire to make the invisible visible and the sincere, unshakable childlike belief that she can save her grandmother by doing so; the focus is not on naming, or accurately portraying a neurodegenerative disease, but on how a young person deals with the confrontation of one. Karla's guileless openness to the illogical and her willingness to find creative solutions to exactly that makes her a fascinating and inspiring character for me.