An intimate reconstruction of a telescoping of memory, When The Phone Rang plunges us into the daily life of a teenage girl, at the moment when her personal history and the history of her country take a turn.
Seen through Lana’s eyes, the breakup of Yugoslavia is a distant yet omnipresent reality, precipitating family turmoil and shaping the end of childhood, marked by an obsessive phone call announcing her grandmother’s death as a sign of the end of an era. Matin DiCicco, a US-based cinematographer, brought this story, inspired by director Iva Radivojević’s personal experience, to life on film. A vibrant Super 16 shot with deliberate framing, it was selected and awarded at numerous festivals before being presented at the 46th Manaki Brothers Film Festival. An interview with a multi-talented cinematographer who also directs his own projects. – How did you meet Iva? Iva and I met when I hired her to edit my feature film All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open (2017). She’s a very creative editor, and our collaboration was fantastic. Later, I helped her with the New York sections of her film Aleph , and shortly after, we started discussing When the Phone Rang . – How did she sketch out the idea for the film, and how did you approach the preparation? The initial script Iva showed me didn’t have much dialogue but rather numerous descriptions of locations and atmospheres, all of which influenced the framing choices and the film’s design. Initially, Iva wanted the film to be primarily composed of close-ups or medium shots, to immerse the audience in Lana and the children’s world rather than evoking the outside world (and the context of the ongoing conflict in the country). From there, we started thinking about the transitions between the different sequences: there were always repetitions in the voiceovers, so we had to reuse some of the footage we had shot, like memories that keep coming back. Was the choice of film obvious, or did you question it when comparing it to digital? From the beginning, Iva said she wanted to shoot this film on film, so there really wasn’t any discussion about a digital recording. She felt that the grain should evoke memories of that time, memories recalled or sometimes derived from old family photos. The entire film is dictated by constraints: a script based on memories, a tiny budget, period costumes, props, and locations, etc. The idea of imposing the limitations of shooting on film on us was therefore quite fitting. Our colorist in Athens, Dmitris Karteris, also really helped us create a texture that evokes a somewhat hazy memory: a low contrast that highlights the vibrant colors we chose for the costumes and sets. He also helped us manage the grain, as sometimes the 50D is too sharp and needs a bit of grittiness, and we also had to reduce the grain somewhat on our nighttime exteriors shot on 500T. It was the first time Iva and her producers had worked with film, and since the film wasn’t developed during shooting, it was a little nerve-wracking waiting until the end of filming to finally see the footage. But everything went very well, and we developed and digitized the images in Budapest at the NFI-Magyar FilmLabor. Even though there wasn’t a lab in Serbia, it was important for us to work with a local lab. Budapest was only three hours from our shooting location, which was always preferable to sending the film to Germany or elsewhere. It seemed only right that the film should be released in the region. 
– What camera and lenses did you use, and what motivated your choice? I brought my own Aaton XTRplus kit to Serbia; it was the most logical solution given our limited budget. I love the Aaton’s design and ergonomics. Our camera assistant, Bojan Đurišić, had a lot of experience with 16mm and 35mm formats, but only on Arri cameras, so he was very enthusiastic about using the Aaton. We shot with a set of Zeiss S16 mk1 lenses. I believe it’s the first set designed for Super 16 that Zeiss commercially released. They’re good lenses—compact and fast. – Filming abroad is always an experience that blends expertise with discovery. Which cities did you film in, and what motivated your choice of locations? The film is set in Novi Sad and was shot in many places that exist in Iva’s memory, such as the burek shop, the Panda Video Club, and the apartment building where she grew up, where we filmed the children who live there. Again, due to budget constraints, we had to be creative with the filming locations and ended up shooting in eight different spots within the four-room apartment we had rented. Every day, we had to rearrange the furniture and sets to prepare for the next day’s shoot, but we had a fantastic small crew and everyone helped each other out. – What was your approach to lighting? What was the most difficult sequence to shoot, either technically or in terms of directing?
– Speaking more specifically about your career path, what came first, the desire to become a director or a cinematographer? I got started thanks to my interest in photography, which led me to work for several years as a gaffer on sets in Los Angeles: feature films, music videos, some incredible, others appalling. For me, working as a gaffer was much more satisfying than being a camera assistant because the filming locations were always different, the technical challenges varied. I think that’s why I gravitated towards documentary filmmaking in my early days, because of the great diversity of personalities and locations, which changed daily from one project to the next. My desire to direct simply came from the idea that I wanted to make a film about railway workers in Azerbaijan. I think it was a bit of a reaction to other films I was working on as a cinematographer, a desire to try something different… – What are your upcoming projects (as a director or cinematographer)? I just finished shooting a concert film for directors Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher and cinematographer Jarred Alterman, and I’m currently working on some other documentaries that are still under wraps. I’ve been working on a new film for far too long, about eight years now, but I should be finishing shooting soon. It’s a film about isolation, space travel, and the boundaries between worlds, shot on 16mm and digital. I’m always looking for new films to collaborate with other people, and I’m always excited to take my Aaton with me to new places! The film trailer Martin DiCicco’s websiteEnglish version
An intimate reconstruction of collided memories, When the Phone Rang immerses us in the daily life of a teenager, at a time when her personal history and her country are changing.
Seen through Lana’s eyes, the breakup of Yugoslavia is a distant yet omnipresent reality, precipitating family upheavals and shaping the end of her childhood, marked by an obsessive phone call announcing her grandmother’s death as a sign of the end of a world. Matin DiCicco, a US-based cinematographer, brought this story to life, inspired by the personal experience of director Iva Radivojević. A vibrant Super 16 film with carefully framed shots, selected and awarded at numerous festivals before being presented at the 46th Manaki Brothers Festival. Interview with a multi-talented cinematographer who also directs his own projects. – How have you been in contact with Iva? Iva and I met when I brought her on to edit my feature All That Passes By Through a Window That Doesn’t Open (2017). She’s a very creative editor and it was really a wonderful collaboration. Later I helped out a bit on the New York sections of her film Aleph and not long after we began discussing When The Phone Rang .- How did she sketch the idea of the film and how did you approach the film with this in mind? Primarily, Iva had wanted the film to be mostly close or medium shots, to center the audience within Lana and the children’s worlds, rather than seeing the wider world (and the context of conflict in the country). So it was with this perspective began from there to figure out to move from one sequence to another. There was always repetition of voiceover lines, so there always needed to be repetition of images we shot and reused, like memories returning again and again. – Was shooting on film stock obvious or did you challenge it with digital comparison? From the beginning Iva had said she wanted to shoot this on film, there really was no discussion about digital capture at all. She wanted the grain to evoke memories of that time, memories recalled from or sometimes invented from viewing old family photographs. The whole film is kind of dictated by constraints: a script based on memories, a tiny budget, period clothing/props/locations, etc. so the idea on constraining ourselves with the limitations of shooting film, was welcome. Our colorist in Athens, Dmitris Karteris, really helped us create a texture that could evoke hazy memory: low contrast but instead boosting the bold colors we selected for wardrobe and set design. He helped us a bit with grain management as well, sometimes the 50D is too clean and needed a little dirtying up, and we had to clean up our 500T night exteriors a little as well. This was Iva and our producers’ first time working on film, and without having any dailies or rushes service from the lab during the shooting, it was a bit anxiety-inducing to shoot the whole film and wait until we wrapped to see any frames from it. But it turned out great, we processed and scanned in Budapest at NFI-Magyar FilmLabor, and while there weren’t any labs in Serbia, it was important for us to work with a lab in the region, Budapest was only three hours from our location, rather than ship the film to Germany or elsewhere. It felt right to birth the film in the region. – What motivated your choices on lenses and camera? I brought my own Aaton XTRplus kit over to Serbia, it made the most sense for our slim budget. I love the Aaton’s design and the ergonomics so much. Our camera assistant Bojan Đurišić was quite experienced working on 16 and 35, but only on Arri cameras, so he was quite excited to be on the Aaton. We shot on a set of Zeiss S16 mk1 lenses, I believe this is the first set designed for Super 16 that Zeiss put out. They’re nice, compact, and fast lenses. – Shooting abroad is always an experience, between expertise and discovery. In which cities did you shoot and what led to the choices of locations? The film was set in Novi Sad, shoot at many of the same locations that exist in her memory, the burek shop, the Panda Video Club, and the same apartment block she grew up in where we filmed the kids living in. Again, because of the budget, we had to get a little creativity with our locations, and we ended up shooting I think eight different locations in our main 3 bedroom flat we rented. It was constant shuffle of furniture and set design at wrap each day to reset for the next shooting day, but we had a fantastic small crew and everyone helped out cross-departments. – What was your approach on lighting? What was the trickiest sequence to shoot, may it be related to technique or mise en scene? We wanted everything to be very natural, so much of the film was scheduled around sun position, but at various times it was mostly a key from window light or an M18, and we used lots of bounce, soft bounce or Lightbridge panels to accent. I was looking at and somewhat trying to replicate the natural light in period photographs from that era, chiefly the work of Robin Graubard, whose candid portraits and street scenes of youth in former Yugoslavia in 1993-1995 were quite inspirational in attempting to replicate a look of that era. There was an effort made to have Lana’s world and those orbiting around it to be soft, to be insulated from harsh realities outside the apartment. – What came first, the will to become a director or a director of photography? I came up through an interest in photography and that kinda morphed into working sets as an electrician in Los Angeles for a number of years: features, and music videos- some amazing ones but also some terrible ones. To me I found Electric to be much more satisfying than Camera Assisting because it was always a different location, different rigging challenge, and I think that’s why I had drifted toward shooting documentaries when I was coming up because of the constant carousel of personalities and locations changing with each day of a project. The desire to direct came from simply pursuing one idea I wanted to make about rail workers in Azerbaijan, I think it was a reaction to other films I was DPing, the pursuit of trying to do something different. – What are your coming projects, as a director or as a dp?
