Emilio Mercanti is an Italian filmmaker from Civitanova Marche, known for Quello che Resta di Noi, TIC TAC (2025)

Emilio Mercanti is an Italian filmmaker from Civitanova Marche, known for Quello che Resta di Noi, TIC TAC (2025), and Believe in You (2021). Passionate about cinema since childhood, he developed his craft through photography, videomaking, and artistic studies, creating emotionally driven films that leave a lasting impact.

https://www.minds.com/Talon123/blog/emilio-mercanti-a-talented-filmmaker-1733180368938344448

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11328132/

What was the original spark that inspired “TIC TAC”? — What drew you to explore a time-loop narrative and themes such as communication breakdown and the fear of fatherhood?

Beyond the artistic and technical curiosity of staging a story like this, having gone through experiences that made me reflect on the possibility of becoming a father pushed me to distort that event and turn it into a time loop, as if I needed to rationalize it or punish myself. I’m still trying to understand it.

 

How has your approach to filmmaking evolved between “Believe in You” and “TIC TAC”? — Considering the shift from a silent short film with mannequins to a more complex 25-minute narrative, how has your cinematic language changed?

That leap definitely had the time it needed to mature. I chose the move from silent to sound as a kind of training for myself. Working only with the characters’ actions is more immediate; calibrating their lines and managing the rhythm through dialogue as well is more complex and, I believe, requires great care. It has transformed my way of communicating visually, making it easier for the characters’ emotional states to reach the audience. That’s what allows empathy with the viewer to be born.

 

What personal meaning does silence hold in “Believe in You”? — You chose a mute visual style with mannequins; what emotional experience were you hoping to create for the audience?

 

The silence in Believe In You was primarily there to underline that even in that story there is a theme of communication breakdown, seen from a different but related angle. It made the whole situation more primitive and instinctive, and made us perceive the protagonists almost as primates, as well as ethereal figures.

How did your artistic education and mentorship shape your style? — In what ways did studying at an art high school and learning from videomaker Tommaso Malaisi influence your visual and storytelling approach?

 

Studying visual arts since high school helped shape what I’d call a visual awareness. Visual culture and the culture of the image were born long before cinema and photography, and attending an art high school definitely opens your mind and gives you a strong sense of the bigger picture. Tommaso, my great mentor, came at the beginning of an artistic journey in which I had to find myself and experiment to understand which strings resonated most in me. He had the courage to entrust me with projects and to throw me in at the deep end, allowing me to prove that I have a keen eye.

What was it like working with your independent crew on “TIC TAC”? — Since the project relied on teamwork and creative collaboration, what were the biggest challenges and greatest rewards during production?

 

Working with a small, independent but international crew was incredibly fun. There were big challenges, of course, but I believe the final result really benefits from that. When you have a team capable of pushing themselves to the limit, held together by dedication, you can get anywhere. That’s why the same crew was then expanded to shoot the feature Quello Che Resta di Noi.

As both a filmmaker and a film lover, what do you look for when watching a movie? — You’ve said cinema is an “emotional language”: which emotions or reflections resonate most with you?

 

When I watch a film I look for a message, an emotion. I don’t expect anything except to feel that someone wanted to communicate something to me. It’s the same when I’m behind the camera: I try to transmit something that has meaning, as well as to create believable relationships between the characters.

Are there particular themes or genres you hope to explore in future projects? — After completing “TIC TAC,” where do you see your artistic curiosity leading you next?
 

I hope to keep telling stories in the vein of TIC TAC,oneiric or grotesque tales that immerse the viewer in borderline situations and keep them in a state of constant doubt. Quello che Resta di Noi is a thriller-comedy with a lighter tone, but not with less depth, quite the opposite. I wanted to immediately experiment with the opposite of the last genre I had worked in, and I plan to keep doing that by changing direction again.

How do you balance technique and message in your films? — You’ve said that the medium matters less than what you want to communicate; how does this philosophy guide your choices in directing, cinematography, and storytelling?

The medium matters less than the message you want to communicate, but the medium has to be a tool at the service of that message. The moment technique and medium take over and force or constrain your story into something you didn’t choose, you’re killing your own art. That’s why being truly aware of your tools leads to higher quality in the final result. I think the key to balancing it is to be yourself while you create, and to follow your instinct as well as your imagination. For me, the real difficulty lies in anticipating your own imagination already in pre-production.

Interview - https://endertalon.blogspot.com/2024/12/interviews-with-clinton-r.html