TORONTO – Following her World Premier of Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe, Director Cosima Spender spoke with Corriere Canadese to discuss of one of this year’s hottest tickets at TIFF. Part two of their discussion is here.

How was your World Premier TIFF experience?

“I was really glad that the screening went well and Andrea actually really enjoyed it. He was sitting at the back and apparently he was singing along to every single song in the soundtrack, so if you’re sitting next to him you could have stereophonic Andrea singing along to the film. But yeah, it was slightly terrifying. I have to admit because you’re in a room editing a film for a year and then the first hurdle was showing it to Andrea. And we were meant to do a very intimate screening, which we did, except that he came with fifty friends (Cosima laughs). And then you’re showing it to your producers a lot. But when you go to a screening like last night, it’s like watching it for the first time again because you’re seeing it through all of the audience’s eyes. And I was very reassured because the audience laughed in many places and cried in a few and came out on the whole extremely joyous, because the film celebrates not just Andrea and his maestro side, but also Andrea as the person and the values that he represents”.

How did you become involved with the project?

“The producers approached me because of my previous work and also because Andrea insisted on having an Italian crew. He wanted to be surrounded by people who understood him and that he could understand. I literally was born two hours away from where Andrea lives and where people speak the same dialect. I told them I wanted to make a film which was as interesting on a sound level as well as visual, and he goes [jokingly], “Oh that’s lucky because I won’t be enjoying the visuals much”. And so there are moments in the film where I really kind of delve into the sound and let the sound play out. I think that’s what’s so incredible about Andrea is that although the world of sight is not there for him, he’s got this utterly three dimensional and much more in-depth experience of sound and music and opera”.

What struck you most about Andrea Bocelli, the person?

“I was really struck at how learned he is and the thoughtfulness and he’s very witty, so his sense of humour is great but then he also has these great moments of just calm. He’s a very wise man and I think it’s partly because he studied law and because of his life experience. His whole family, they’re extremely intelligent, they’re extremely academic. His brother’s a mathematical genius who can do anything with numbers, they’re an extremely gifted family. He is incredibly positive, focuses on the positive and really encourages humans to just recognize what their talents are, and nurture those talents. Really make the most of what you’ve got rather than focusing on the negatives”.

Bocelli mentions destiny often. Would you say that your film explores the concept of destiny or a person [Bocelli] who believes in destiny?

“Well I think the two are probably linked, I mean it’s interesting. Destinies, things like destiny or luck are still concepts that we all believe in. I’ve always been very interested in that. What he’s saying for me, as I interpreted it, is he was born with a voice and he was lucky to have pinpointed that gift and then he’s really worked at honouring that gift. I think in the end luck and destiny are things that you have to recognize but then have to work to bring to fruition”.

In the pics: Cosima Spender with Andrea Bocelli and the screening of  “Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe” at TIFF (photos: lorenzo.montanelli from Instagram profile andreabocelliofficial)

Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix