“I ask people one simple question: What’s your favorite movie? The answer often reveals much more than just a film.”
A few years ago, photographer Alessio Trerotoli began a simple yet deeply personal project: capturing people through their favorite movies. What initially seemed like a straightforward idea soon evolved into something much more meaningful. Through his Film People Project, Trerotoli combines photography and storytelling to explore individual life experiences through cinema. Each participant is portrayed and invited to choose not necessarily the “best” film, but the one that, at a particular moment, helped them understand who they are, what they’ve lost, what they’re searching for, or who they are becoming.
Scroll down to see the most recent portraits captured by Alessio and find out more about the project.
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#1 Pierfrancesco, “Legends Of The Fall”
“I was intrigued and encouraged by my mother to watch Legends of the Fall, at a time in my life that would later turn out to run parallel to Tristan’s, a bit turbulent, full of stubbornness, ambitions, and a search for something deeper. In my memories and in that inner intensity, I probably lived that same life, that same character, and maybe that inner voice still awakens even now. I’ve always felt it very clearly, it shows itself in instinctive gestures, in the ancestral love, sweetly reckless and protective, that I have for my family. It’s a constant search for redemption that I found in the magic of a film, in a character who, like me, like anyone, falls while crashing against his own wind of passion, only to rise again”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
“The photographic portrait is only the beginning. At the heart of the project are the people and their personal narratives, experiences, wounds, turning points, loves, falls, rebirths, and memories. Cinema becomes a narrative key, a starting point to reveal an authentic part of oneself. Film People is an ever-evolving human archive, currently composed of 230+ portraits and stories that bring together portrait photography and emotional memory.
Since then, the project has kept growing. I’ve met people from different backgrounds, each bringing their own story, their own film, and their own way of seeing themselves through cinema. What started as a visual experiment slowly became something deeper: a collection of human experiences told through movies.”
#2 Imma, “Forrest Gump”
“I consider ‘Forrest Gump’ my comfort movie; I never get tired of it. I saw it when I was little and found it funny, then as I grew up, I understood it more and appreciated it more and more. Forrest does good without even realizing it: I’m a nurse, and I like to think that, in my own small way, I’ve comforted and helped someone, maybe without even knowing it. I love the moment when Forrest helps Lieutenant Dan rediscover his will to live; it’s unexpected, and it’s a form of empathy that, in some way, is also part of my job. We need more Forrests in life, because beyond being a technically perfect film, it carries a positive message about life: ‘You make your own destiny, you have to do your best with what God gave you.’ It’s one of the film’s lines that I’ve come to love more and more over time.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#3 Paolo, “Blues Brothers”
“’The Blues Brothers’ is the film I’ve watched more times than any other. When I was a kid, we had a VHS at home, and I practically wore it out. I know it by heart. It’s brilliant, even today. I’ve also shown it to my daughter. I’m introducing her to the blues, and when she sees a nun on the street, she tells me there’s a penguin, which makes me very proud! It’s a film that has accompanied both my political education, after all, we all hate Illinois Nazis, and my musical one too, with artists like Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, and many others.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
“That’s also why I recently created a dedicated website, where the project can live in a more complete form. Not just images, but stories, context, and a growing archive of people and films connected through something personal. And for the first time, the project is no longer limited by geography: I’ve opened a page (“What’s Your Favorite Film?”), where anyone can share their favorite movie and the story behind it — even if they live on the other side of the world. Some of these stories may become part of the project in the future, turning into new portraits, or just be shared on that page.
This project is still evolving, and probably always will be.
Because in the end, it’s not really about movies.
It’s about people.
So… What’s your favorite film?”
#4 Francesco, “Joker”
“Gotham is a metropolis that immediately triggers a sense of loneliness, but being alone also means focusing more on the search for your own path. I like the madness, the uniqueness, the fragility, the anger, the idea of not having to hide your weaknesses. And when he puts on the Joker mask, he becomes an actor, which reflects a lot of my own dedication to acting. When I watched ‘Joker,’ I felt a sense of redemption, and I think that for me, too, the time has come to get what I deserve. I lost my mother when I was 17, and later a friend in an accident. I’ve been through some difficult moments. Despite that, I remain cheerful and smiling, and I like the Joker because he also always has this smile painted on his face. I’m tired of social rules and judgments. If we could put ourselves in other people’s shoes more often, there would be more love, more empathy, and less pain.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#5 Natalia, “Lost In Translation”
“The first time I heard about ‘Lost in Translation’ was during a farewell at an airport, where we could barely understand each other’s language. When I finally watched it, everything made sense. The music, the cinematography, and everything that is left unsaid carried me through different moments of my life. Through this film, I allow myself to contemplate suspended emotions, like Charlotte looking out of the window, or emotions that can create catharsis, like the karaoke scene with Bob, while routine, represented by faxes and indifference, keeps going on. Later, I discovered that the film partly reflected the farewell of the director, Sofia Coppola, and her feelings about her marriage. For me, on the contrary, this will always be a film about new beginnings. I always find myself wondering what is whispered in her ear in that powerful scene. That’s exactly how I felt in that airport, and fortunately, it wasn’t the last time.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#6 Lidia, “Mamma Mia!”
“Maybe ‘Mamma Mia!’ is not my absolute favorite film, but it’s definitely my comfort film. I first saw it when I was 17, with my school friends, at a time in life when it felt like everything could be solved with an ABBA song, when you could be lighthearted, without complications. In my bubble, sadness didn’t exist. Every now and then, I escape back into that bubble, because time passes and bad things happen. But whenever I feel like returning to that state of mind, I watch this film, and it feels like I’m 17 again.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#7 Alma, “Patch Adams”
“I’m a pharmacist, and when I’m at work, I feel a lot like ‘Patch Adams’: I use his same spirit and good humor, and I can see that people smile and feel happier. They come to the pharmacy because they’re not feeling well, so I try to make them feel better. When I saw this film, I really related to it: I’m professional, but also very playful!”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#8 Michele, “Trainspotting”
“I would never get tired of watching ‘Trainspotting.’ There are so many scenes I love, like when he walks into the nightclub and feels like a fish out of water until he sees the girl he falls in love with, and in that moment, the music changes. I really like the soundtrack, full of shifts in rhythm and emphasis, as well as the directing choices and creative touches. It’s definitely a film that attracts me a lot, also because what the protagonists do is completely far from my own life.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#9 Alessia, “Grease”
“When I was a child, my father sat me down in front of the TV and said, ‘Now I’m going to show you a beautiful film.’ From that moment on, I became obsessed with musicals. I always say that my life is a musical because I’m constantly singing and dancing. ‘Grease’ has stayed in my heart because it introduced me to this wonderful world.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#10 Lucrezia, “Melancholia”
“’Melancholia’ really made me feel the protagonist’s depression. It allowed me to live inside her emotions, and I loved how Lars von Trier overturns the situation: starting from something as tragic as the threat of the end of the world, the woman manages to reconnect with herself, to become, in a way, the heroine, and finally find a sense of peace that perhaps she had never found in her entire life.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#11 Alice, “Her”
“I like ‘Her’ for the way it conveys loneliness and the distance in human relationships. The first time I saw it, I was at home with my brother, and we were both very surprised by the story.”
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#12 Emiliano, “The Color Of Pomegranates”
“I’ve been playing Persian and Armenian music for a long time, and The Color of Pomegranates, through its exploration of the iconography of this itinerant 14th-century poet, actually tells us an entire culture. The color of the pomegranate symbolizes blood, his ethnicity, and all the work he undertakes in his bardic career, which belongs to him deeply. Lately, I’ve realized that the stillness of a certain musical and miniature style suits me extremely well; the frontal presentation of the characters isn’t a limitation, they have their own rhythm, something codified by rules of great elegance and beauty. The film shows us what lies behind this very refined choice.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#13 Andrea, “My Imaginary Country”
“’My Imaginary Country’ (‘Mi Pais Imaginario’) is a documentary about the social uprising that took place in Santiago in 2019, experienced and documented by Patricio Guzmán. I feel particularly close to this story because the uprising happened right near my home, at Plaza Italia. I didn’t join in at first because the clashes with the police scared me, but later I went out to the streets too. The Constitution in Chile remained the one from Pinochet’s era, limiting major legal changes and fueling widespread discontent, as the documentary shows.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#14 Ilaria, “La La Land”
“I love musicals, Emma Stone, and this beautiful film, ‘La La Land,’ which moves and enchants me. It depicts the long and hard journey from aspiring actor to professional actor, full of work, passion, study, dreams, ambition, determination, auditions, disappointments, surprises, sacrifices, opportunities, hopes, joys, all the way to the happy ending. I identify with Mia, the film’s protagonist, dreaming and pursuing with passion and determination the same artistic goal of becoming an actress. I especially adore the two scenes at the beginning and end of the film, set in the same bar, which symbolize the change in Mia’s destiny: in the first she is a waitress aspiring to be an actress, and in the second, she returns to the same bar as a successful actress”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#15 Merve, “Touki Bouki”
“’Touki Bouki’ was the first Senegalese film I had ever seen, a reality I didn’t know. The way it was shot, the characters, the social reality it depicts, the soundtrack, the sense of longing to escape: all these elements work together perfectly. The most important lesson is to keep hope even in the most desperate moments, always looking for a way out. I loved it”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#16 Zachary, “Hoop Dreams”
“’Hoop Dreams’ is the reason why I became a documentary filmmaker. It’s the first documentary I ever saw where there weren’t just people talking to the camera, but real life unfolding, as it follows two boys over the course of four years. There’s something truly magical about that. I’ve never liked sports and I never really understood them, but this film, which is about basketball, completely changed the way I see them. Making documentaries today has become morally difficult. You have to pay people just to interview them, even though it’s a genre that rarely brings in much money. This film, on the other hand, was so successful that the director made the two boys producers as well, so they could share in the profits. I think that’s a beautiful lesson, and something I still learn from. I was raised by a single mother, I never had a father, and one of the boys in the film also grows up with just his mother. His father was a drug addict, and there’s a scene where, while the boy is playing basketball, his dad shows up at the court completely high. It’s frightening. You think he’s a terrible father. But then, four years later, he comes back clean and becomes an amazing dad. He shows up to every game, supports his son, cheers for him, hugs him. That scene really makes me cry”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#17 Roberta, “Kill Bill Vol. 1”
“’Kill Bill Vol. 1′ has always given me positive energy, even if what’s on screen might not seem that way. I love the film’s colors, whenever I have the chance to watch it, they help me disconnect from everyday life and fully immerse myself in it, and for me it’s always a liberating experience, it makes me feel full, happy. The Bride, behind the mask, is a character wrapped in a kind of melancholy that I relate to. She leaves her previous life behind to become something else, it reminds me a bit of when I left Sicily at eighteen, it wasn’t easy, and I feel that same melancholy whenever I go back and then leave again. There’s always a connection to what you leave behind”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#18 Raffaele, “Jurassic Park”
“When I was a kid, I wanted to become a paleontologist, so I waited a long time for ‘Jurassic Park.’ Beyond the story, which is wonderful, seeing what was achieved visually is incredible; it made me want to work with graphics and computers, which is what I do today. I even mentioned this film in my final high school exam essay, talking about the ethics of science, especially the line by Malcolm: Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#19 Daniele, “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou”
“The protagonist of ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,’ like me, has a great fear: the fear of not being remembered. Not so much out of egocentrism, but for a practical reason: the only thing we can leave behind, the only thing that can last forever, is our memory, and that worries me. This film spoke directly to me”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#20 Guglielmo, “Arrival”
“’Arrival’ teaches the importance of language. Two different societies, coming from different dimensions of the universe, try to communicate, showing how important it is to understand the other in order to solve problems and socio-political dynamics. It also shows how language itself creates pathways in our brains that change the way we see the world. Using one word instead of another can completely change the way we conceive a certain idea, and from this point of view the film is devastating. With words, you can be effectively cruel, but you can also be very polite in a very cruel way.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#21 Cristina, “Big Fish”
“’Big Fish’ was the film that changed the direction of my life. After seeing it, I realized I wanted to dedicate myself to cinema, and I became a film journalist. I love Tim Burton and I love this film because I see a lot of myself in the main character.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#22 Paolo, “Apocalypse Now”
“’Apocalypse Now’ is a film surrounded by an incredible mythology when it comes to its production. It’s full of ideas, an absolute masterpiece. There’s an atmosphere in it that I can’t find in any other film. I remember once, when I was a teenager, it was on TV and even though we had guests in the living room, I watched the whole thing. Despite all the distractions, I just couldn’t pull myself away from it.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#23 Deborah, “Smoke Like It Hot”
“’Some Like It Hot’ is the first film that came to my mind; it brings me back to my childhood. In England, it was often on TV, and my sister and I used to recite the dialogues and sing the songs. It was a film that was ahead of its time. Today, we talk about gay rights and gender issues, but this film is from 1959, and you see Jack Lemmon dressed as a woman, even getting engaged to a man! It’s a film that has stayed with me my whole life, and growing up as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you realize how open it is to so many interpretations. It’s the kind of film you could feel was yours in different ways.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
#24 Alessandro, “Brick”
“I really liked how ‘Brick’ portrays the concept of addiction, which is not only the one hinted at in the title, related to the brick of drugs, but above all, the kind that drives the protagonist to seek the truth and to do things that go beyond the ordinary. I’m the same: when I want to understand something, I always try to get to the bottom of it, even if it hurts. I prefer to know rather than be left at the mercy of events, and in that sense, I feel a bit similar to the protagonist. Being a low-budget film, it also inspired me a lot on a technical level, since I make music and also work on music videos. I really love its 2000s aesthetic, I’m obsessed with it.”
Image source: alessiotrerotoli
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