Meet Ginevra Zanoni | Filmmaker, Screenwriter and Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ginevra Zanoni and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ginevra, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
“Amateur means for the love” is my favorite quote of all time. I found it on Josh & Benny Safdie’s social media a few years ago. I unfortunately cannot find the post anymore, but I very vividly remember reading it and writing it down.

I think the quote single handedly explains filmmaking. Whoever is brave enough to make a film on an amateur level is performing an act of love towards themselves. I have always believed that the best filmmakers of all time made their first movie because they couldn’t help but do it. The Safdie Brothers in particular have inspired me in endless ways that even go beyond filmmaking. It is very clear to me that the reason why they make movies is simply because they cannot help but make movies, which is the only reason why someone should want to make one.

A filmmaker should never forget why they made their very first movie, or wrote their very first script. Eventually and inevitably we will lose the amateur, but must preserve the love at all costs. If there is no love, there is no movies.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think to get to where I am with my own art, I had to make myself cringe a lot. I had to write terrible things in order to write the things I am most proud of today, It is not easy to be faced with your worst work but it is so necessary.
In my opinion, my best work is anything that makes me laugh. In the last couple years I have realized that anything that makes me laugh is worth making.

Anyone who creates art should be able to transfer enthusiasm for it, to collaborators and audience. Understanding no one is going to get excited for something that you are not excited for was a very complicated and humbling process for me to go through.

I think this is a learning curve, especially when starting out, but our own work needs to be shown some love eventually.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think the best thing to do in New York City is walk. When my best friend visited me here for the first time, the very first thing we did was walk from the Upper East Side to Tribeca.

In the span of three/four hours, we walked by the Guggenheim, The MET, Central Park, Lincoln Center, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central and The Empire State Building.

Walking in New York is unlike walking anywhere else. The energy shifts so quickly from one block to the other and your body and thoughts just adapt. One moment you are looking at an older couple on the Upper East Side and thinking about what you will look like at that age, the next you overhear someone fighting on the phone and for the next 5 minutes you can’t help but wonder how that conversation ended.

One of the most special places in New York City to take a walk in is Carl Schurz Park on 87th St and East End Ave. Sitting on a bench looking at the East River at 8AM on a summer morning leaves me speechless every time. I will always bring anyone visiting me in New York to Carl Schurz park.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate my shoutout to my Dad! I would never have made it here without him.

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