I Am Whole
A Coming-of-Age Story
Directed by Bianca Poletti
Interview by Tatev Avetisyan
“Have you done it yet?” This is the question haunting the protagonist in Bianca Poletti’s latest project - I Am Whole. The short film revolves around the story of a young girl struggling to keep up with peer pressure, resulting in a whirlpool of anxiety.
The struggle of not missing out, while preserving one’s social status has never been easy. Accompanied by a voice-over narration and warm palette shots, the film gives a subtle and poetic tone to the life puzzles and insecurities affecting the youthful spirit of Gen-Zers. Bianca Poletti’s previous work Radical Honesty also explores relationships between two young people, but in that instance we challenge conventional structures by introducing the viewer to open relationships.
The Argentine-born and Los Angeles-based filmmaker opens up on Curation Hour about the workings of the human psyche, sharing references to the aesthetics behind her cinematic approach and the challenges she faced due to unexpected last-minute changes.
What inspired you to step into the film industry?
Books, Films and TV. I have been drawn to creating films and visually telling stories since childhood. I grew up writing and starring in my own plays for my single mom, who worked long hours to support my sister and me. I would create these plays, wait for her to come home and then perform them for her almost every night for a long while.
I was always into storytelling and creating my own worlds. With age, I was drawn more and more to the visual side of storytelling and making films. I started getting into photography and did that professionally for six years, and although I love photography, I kept missing digging into characters deeply and filmmaking. I began funding and making my own short films. Eventually, one of them, Fertile, got me signed commercially. Then I made another short this past year, with some funding behind it. It premiered at SXSW, got a Vimeo staff pick and lots of love.
Where did you take the inspiration to build this storyline and voice the theme of peer pressure?
The inspiration for this storyline came from watching Euphoria, TikTok videos etc. Seeing this new culture of teens really rushing to become adults, being present 24/7 via social media, writing about deep depression and how they feel the need to use filters on every taken photo etc., - from that I wanted to create a very simple piece about being a teen in today’s world and the pressures they feel daily. But I wanted to explore it in a visual way. That is why this piece is VO driven and does not have any dialogue.
How did the creative process behind I Am Whole evolve? Did you start at a particular point in the story while putting your scenes together and then work either backwards or forwards, or did you start with a general idea?
I started with the general theme of peer pressure for young girls, and it evolved from there. I started building the idea about two years ago. At first, I wanted to make it quickly with a couple of friends, and immediately explore. However, the more I sat with it, the more the story evolved into something deeper and something I wanted to create in a slightly bigger world. Once I had the full concept written, I reached out to my very talented musician friend, who writes beautiful poetry - Nikki Lorenzo. We talked about the themes and what I wanted the arc to be, and she wrote the beautiful VO. Then, it took about two years for everything to come together, schedule and cast-wise.
Radical Honesty, Imperfect Harmony, and Beauty is Abundant: most of your projects revolve around relationships, love, beauty, and self-exploration. Where does this passion for empowerment come from?
I find relationships endlessly interesting, whether romantic relationships, friendships, families connected or falling apart. It is what 90 percent of songs are about and what has inspired art for centuries. There are many layers to people and how and why they react to situations at a specific time in their life. I love exploring that. Coming-of-age films are a favourite of mine and have always been the genre I am most interested in exploring. Humans are beautiful even in their darkest moments; we are just so layered. Through time and experience, we keep evolving and have different chapters in our life. I love digging into that and exploring the human psyche.
How are directing commercials, music videos, and visualising your own narratives different? Does the approach in designing a storyboard and deciding on the storyline’s angle heavily depend on the genre?
They are quite different, yes. Commercials are really fun to do. I love the challenge of writing on so many different themes and worlds and trying to figure out—like a puzzle piece that is missing—how to connect multiple worlds interestingly and in 30 or fewer seconds. That is a very exciting thing to explore for me. But of course, they also have their challenges and limitations, due to so many cooks in the kitchen. But overall, commercials are a very special thing and it is such an example of teamwork - it takes so many people getting together to make a commercial.
My narrative shorts are the thing I enjoy the most; there are no rules. Although money is always tight for making them, it is a time when I can explore any theme. It is completely personal and I can take however much time I need to post. The other beautiful thing with narrative shorts is getting the right creative group together who believes in the project and is IN IT with you fully. Money and time don’t matter, we are all there because we love storytelling and film, and that is such an irreplaceable feeling. It is really beautiful.
“I find relationships endlessly interesting, whether romantic relationships, friendships, families connected or falling apart. It is what 90 percent of songs are about and what has inspired art for centuries.”
What were the key challenges in making I Am Whole? Considering the film as a narrative piece, where the voiceover is integral in understanding the theme and idea, what are the important considerations to keep in mind while creating a narrative story?
Covid hit us pretty hard on this one. Two days before the shoot, my DP and two different stylists caught covid. On the morning of the shoot, our sound guy tested positive, so we had to send him home and find someone immediately because I wanted to play with the sound design and textures of each scene. Also, we lost our gaffer the morning of the shoot as well. Luckily, I had an amazing production team. Shayna Gianelli, who has produced my last two films, is just a beast and incredible. She made these big losses feel minimal by finding replacements quickly. For the DP replacement, I reached out to a very talented friend of mine Kayla Hoff. I knew her eye for capturing beauty through the female gaze would be perfect for this, and luckily she liked the project and agreed to jump on with little to no prep. She did such a beautiful job with this film. Another challenge was time, we only had one 12-hour day to shoot a two-page shot list and three location moves. However, we hustled through it and made it work. I am very thankful to everyone who took part in this film, all of the crew, production and actors. It makes such a difference when everyone is excited about the project and is fully in it with you.
I wanted to make sure the visuals were expressive of the theme, but not too on the nose as far as the VO matching the visuals. I wanted equal parts VO and visuals to play into the theme and idea. Complementing each other, yet also leaving room for people to have a unique experience of the film without me being too heavy-handed with things.
With a background in Fine Arts photography and a keen eye for aesthetics, were you inspired by any specific filmmakers for your film’s visual concept? Do you have any experimental ideas in filmmaking that you would like to try?
Yes, one of my favourite films of all time is Xavier Dolan's Mommy . It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen visually; the story is so heartbreaking and well done. I was very much inspired by his colour palette and the warm tones for the bedroom scenes in Reina’s world. There is a moment when we are pulling back out from under the golden sheets with Reina. I wanted it to feel like we were in her mind and imagination, feeling the motion of the sheets to portray the uncertainty of her feelings. That camera move was inspired by Edgar Wright’s film Last night in Soho, where Eloise pulls the sheet cover over herself, neon lights surround her, and the camera pulls way back endlessly, creating this dream world under the sheets.
Experimental ideas I would like to try… Ooof, SO many. I am inspired daily by things I have seen, including Japanese and French graphic novels visually. There is a set that I have been wanting to create for an abstract short or dream sequence. I do not want to give away too much, but it is a sort of downfall tunnel of colour and interesting textures. I want to start exploring the world of VFX, too. It is something I have dabbled in, but have not yet fully explored.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
The best piece of advice I have ever received came from my mom. She always pushed me to pursue my dreams. She always told me not to wait for opportunities to fall into my lap, that I had to work hard and never give up on my dreams, and that I could make them a reality. I have kept that with me for my entire life and applied that to what I do daily. If you love something enough, work hard, and are open to learning and evolving - you can get where you want to be in your career. It is never easy, but I find the challenge exciting.
What are you working on next?
I am working on another dark comedy short film, tonally similar to Radical Honesty, together with Allison Goldfarb (who I worked with on Radical Honesty). We are also working on a TV series I am very excited about.
Directed + Story by: Bianca Poletti
Production companies: Frenzy + Zauberberg
Produced by: Shayna Gianelli
EPs: Alex Funada, Elsa Rokotoson, Capucine Charbonnier, Frank Siegal, and Andrea Roman Perse
Story by: Bianca Poletti
Poem written by: Nikki Lorenzo
Cinematography by: Kayla Hoff
Starring: Reina Hardesty, Brando Crawford, Natasha and Amelie Barrero
Soundtrack: Emilie Mosseri
Track: Slumber
Music supervisor: Abbey Hendrix
Edited by: Dusten Zimmerman
Edit house: Cabin Edit
Color: Mikey Rossiter
PD: Sara Fern Wardrobe: Keyla Marquez
Sound mixing: Chris Nungary
VFX: Zauberberg
Titles: Fiftyoneeight
Promo + BTS stills: Lauren Withrow