An award-winning film producer-director and actress who Produced, directed, and also written the scripts of films named "She is Mine" and "Anna.
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One of my favorite things about Love in Italy is how sharp it is. There is not a single unnecessary word in it. How critical are you to your work?
—GGIFF journalist
I am always so critical about any work I do. I want it to be perfect. So, I can call myself a perfectionist I can dedicate my months and years to make it perfect. I am very detail-oriented and do an incredible amount of research before doing anything. I never stop learning, and I always love to learn.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
Denise and her college friends make a summer trip to Italy. They have no idea that the Italy trip will change everything, and the effects of those changes will last the rest of their lives.
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I don't know if you heard it, but Miles Davis once said that jazz is not about notes you play but notes you do not play. Do you think this applies to writing scripts as well?
—GGIFF journalist
Absolutely, jazz music is incredible by itself. Mostly, improvisation and improvisational melodies come directly from the heart. Spontaneously occurring melodies take you to different worlds and feelings. I came across this kind of experience in Love in Italy many times. I wrote some scenes then I realized it had to be more. More than this and that. More feelings it needs. More drama it needs. Somehow, I had the feeling that this or the other scene needed to show the notes that I didn't play I tried a lot to see what was beyond what I saw.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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Films revolving around love are rare these days. How come? People cared and will care about love forever, but we don’t see it that much at cinema anymore.
—GGIFF journalist
It's unbelievably sad that, as human beings, we are away from love in any way these days. We do carry the feelings inside but, somehow, get lost in the necessities of life. Scarce of Money, famine, Pandemics, illnesses, job search, high inflation rates, and increasing prices: make us (human beings) forget about love. Our minds are fully booked with all those day-to-day needs, and we stay lonely away from our loved ones most of the time. Never forget that we are emotional creatures, and scientifically proven that hugging our loved ones discharges serotonin hormones, and we become happy. We are out of happiness because we are missing love in our lives. Most psychological problems occur due to lovelessness. When you search and go down deep to the main reason, you find love is missing. I always see cinema as a reflection of people and society. So cinema is absent of love because we are absent of love in our lives. Some loveless people are harming the world, destroying forests, killing animals, and bringing more lovelessness to the world and to the collective mind of the world. However, the whole world, and the life in it, were all created with love. We should make more movies about love and make us all remember that love still exists against all the odds.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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Besides love, it is a gangster drama, which is a very unique twist for a romantic film. Have you thought about combining these two at the beginning or it just naturally came out that way?
—GGIFF journalist
I lost hope and questioned the existence of love throughout the world for a long time. But I started traveling and met with so many people. We had conversations about true love (once in a lifetime type of love) and ordinary love (the love that can happen many times in one's life). Then finally, I met with a family in Tuscany, Italy. They convinced me completely that love still exists and the true love myth is real. I intentionally combined these two extremes because I observed that love always has extremes inside of it. In every story I listened to, I came across the extremes. Love comes out from extreme situations most of the time, interestingly. So, in the case of "Love in Italy", a true love story that combines gangster drama, why not So I can say yes, it naturally came out that way while I wrote the script.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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My favorite thing about the script is dialogs: they are natural, full of curses, exactly how most people talk these days. Did you study modern everyday language for such result?
—GGIFF journalist
I tried to represent the people inside the script as authentically as possible. So if they need to curse, they curse. Showing real feelings is the most important. Anger, hatred, love, Family and friendship. Transparency was the most important for me. I didn't study modern languages, but I observed people and their reactions to certain situations and wrote about what I saw from today's real people.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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The ending is so bright and happy, which is something I did not except while I was reading. Was it intentional to be so bright and delightful? In the middle of a script, I thought Marco will be assassinated.
—GGIFF journalist
My starting point with Love in Italy is that love still exists. So a happy ending in a love story is definitely a signature. Marco assassinated would be a disaster for me.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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Do you consider Love In Italy a blockbuster or independent drama film?
—GGIFF journalist
I definitely want Love in Italy, a blockbuster feature film and can compete in all the lovely festivals around the world
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
Sena Tunali is an award wining actress. This video - is a great opportunity to watch some of her acting highlights.
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⁃ There are a lot of references to Italian culture in the script: locations, Italian language, etc. Are you a fan of Italian cinema?
—GGIFF journalist
As a filmmaker, it is part of our job to watch as many films as possible. I am fan of all the cinemas around the world. I love Italian, Bollywood, Latino, and all the others. They are all works of art by amazing people and incredible creativities.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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I am curious about the cast. Have you thought who would be ideal cast for main roles? I am pretty sure you had vision and ideas while you were writing it.
—GGIFF journalist
We have pretty much filled the lead roles as of now. However, the castings for the whole remaining actors will take place during April-May 2023 period. So as the writer and producer of Love in Italy, I cannot explain how much I'm excited about this project.
Sena Tunali
Actress, Producer, Writer, Director
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Do you have any other ideas for future films that you could share right now?
—GGIFF journalist
Currently, I am working on my other project, named Zumrut, based on a true story. It mentions a lot about family and family values. It is a period piece and the events happening in 1970s Bulgaria. A totally different era and different culture. But it's coming, and we are all excited about it incredibly.