Daydreams, Nature, Yoga, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, Andy Warhol, Anton Perich, Alice in Wonderland, Jan Svankmajer, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, Leigh Bowery, Alfred Hitchcock, Ken Adams, Jeff Koons, B-movies, Cabaret, Burlesque, Magic, Ballet, David LaChapelle, Pierre et Gilles, Matthew Barney, David Bowie, Mariko Mori, Cindy Sherman, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Douglas Coupland...to name but a few!
Directors
Jeunet et Caro, Alfred Hitchcock, John Waters, John Hughes, Wim Wenders, Stanley Kubrik, Werner Herzog, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Jim Jarmush, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Woody Allen, Mike Figgis, Spike Lee, Hal Hartley, Russ Meyers, Busby Berkley, Miranda July, Sofia Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, Federico Fellini.
Awards
Winner CBC Best Canadian short film in 2002 Winner 120seconds.com film festival 2002 Nominated for 9 Canadian Leo Awards (Best Director) for "mon amour mon parapluie" 2002 Winner of 3 Leo awards for "mon amour mon parapluie" 2002 Winner of Rough Trade Records awarded "PSP Amaze me London" for music 2006
Festivals
Vancouver international film festival, Raindance film festival, Claremont Ferrand, Worldwide short film festival, Commonwealth film festival, European short film festival, Venice Biennale Docfest, Rome International film festival, NXNW, Yorkton short film festival, Victoria film festival, Whistler film festival, Mississippi film festival, Resfest.I’ve been to the Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance film festivals as a documentary maker and journalist.In 2000 I wrote "a guide to the Cannes film festival" which was published in NIGHT magazine. Was photographed and featured in UK ELLE magazine’s article "Queens of Cannes" in 2002. In 2003 I was sponsored by Price Waterhouse Coopers to attend the first ever Berlinale Talent Campus, as an Actress and as a Director. In 2007 I performed at and produced a film around the opening of the Venice Biennale D’Arte.
GIADA has been tagged a "cool-hunter", "an anomaly" and a "navigatrix".
In 1996 Giada landed a lead role on Germany's longest running and most popular Soap Opera, Lindenstrasse. Giada learnt to speak German for the role of party girl "Patricia" and appeared regularly until 2003.
Her directing debut was a short documentary exploring religions and spirituality, whilst in her first year at St.Martin's College of Art in 1996.
Next was a collaboration with Laura Jennings on short film "She, I" which earned her an honourable mention at the European Short Film Festival.
Later projects include "Self-Portrait" which was screened at London's Portobello Film Festival and "White Rooms," a collaborative multi-media project between Giada, Gabriel Prokofiev and Laura Jennings commissioned and sponsored by Sonic Arts at The Institute of Contemporary Art, London.
She graduated from Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design in 1999 with a BAHons in Fine Art/Film&Video.
Her first collaboration with composer Nick Lloyd Webber was on her Central St. Martin's graduation film "Post." Written, produced and directed by Giada and starring Natalia Fitzmaurice, "Post" was well received and invited to screen at international film festivals.
In 2000 Giada founded Little Wonder Productions as an umbrella company for her creative endeavours in both film and live multi-media events/parties.
Giada curated and hosted monthly little wonder short film & music video nights at the GE Club that grew into curating, promoting and hosting large multi-media events at The Great Eastern Hotel called Electric Stew.
In 2000 Giada collaborated with graffitti artist Jina Rox to design and launch a limited edition label of customised vintage and denim pieces; presenting theatrically staged shows at Mei Hui Liu's Secret Underground Fashion Parties.
In 2000 Giada wrote her first feature screenplay and took it to cannes where she wrote a diary-style indie filmmaker's guide to the Cannes Film Festival that was published in NIGHT Magazine, she is since a regular contributor.
In 2001, Giada directed the award winning short film "mon amour mon parapluie", on which Nick Lloyd Webber composed the score and did the sound design...it also featured cameos from cult authors Douglas Coupland and William Gibson who improvised their lines as philosophers.
Nick and Giada were invited to the worldwide short film festival in 2002, to host a panel on film/music collaborations.
Between 2001-2003 Giada was the personal assistant to writer, director, producer Jeremy Wooding (Peepshow, Derren Brown Mind Control) and also filmed the process from concept to premiere of his first feature film "Bollywood Queen".
In 2003 after 7 years on the German Soap Opera& film festival circuit, Giada stepped back and went underground and began a screenplay adaptation of a Douglas Coupland novel. During this time she also focused on writing songs, singing, making beats and eventually videos for those songs.
In 2004 Giada conceived an anti-bullying campaign aimed at teenage girls and produced, shot and directed a Nike viral promo and a documentary on U.K All Star B-girl Crew "Outbreak" in the build up to and at the first worldwide B-girl Championships in Berlin.
In 2004 Giada founded, produced and directed Kitsch Palace as a live multi-media party performance experiment. NIGHT Magazine allowed Giada to explore and incorporate Anton Perich's archive films into live performances and videos; including films of icons such as Andy Warhol, Mohammed Ali, Salvador Dali, Candy Darling, Grace Jones, Taylor Mead and Jerry Hall..
Those experiments and shows resulted in studio recordings of all original songs "Some like it kitsch", recorded re-imagined covers "Welcome to The Kitsch Palace.." and a catalogue of visuals and music videos used for live shows.
A limited edition 4 track EP was released through Banana Castle Records, White label releases on PopWhiteLabel and featured vocals on 12"vinyl compilation "Leibesgrusse aus Ost Berlin" ( Exil-Systems Records).
In 2005 Giada was a creative & director with Real Creatives Worldwide, writing and developing ad campaigns, viral videos, creative branding concepts and strategies.
In 2006 Giada won the music award for "PSP Amazeme London!" a playstation sponsored nationwide creative competition, resulting in a mentorship with Rough Trade Records founder, Geoff Travis.
In 2006 Giada directed viral campaigns, music videos and fashion promos and launched a channel on www.youtube.com/littlewonderfilms
In 2007 Giada was commissioned by The Third Millenium Foundation to create a performance piece and visuals on the theme of Tolerance for the launch of The Ship of Tolerance designed by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, at the opening of The Venice Biennale d'Arte.
In 2008 Giada was selected to be the Artist in Residency at The Gershwin Hotel NYC, where she shot and starred in a feature length conceptual documentary.
Filmography:
2008 Life at The Gershwin Hotel- Feature length Documentary*****
2008 Spirit of Tolerance- Short documentary & music video*****
2008 Rodnik- Live @The Hospital*****
2008 Tea with Johnny Blue Eyes- Performances and interviews*****
2008 UK Vogue Ball @Trannyshack- Performances and interviews*****
2007 UK Air Guitar Championships- Performances and interviews*****
2007 Pietro Ruffo- Short documentary*****
2007 I can be so many people- Short film*****
2006 Turn on with me- Fashion promo/music video*****
2006 Duende- Short film*****
2006 Yoav- Live @Monkey Chews*****
2006 GIADA @ The GE Hotel- Anton Perich Film*****
2006 Bboy- short documentary& interviews www.bboythegame.com*****
2005 Kashpoint Re-birthday @Koko- performances and backstage*****
2005 MAB- Music video*****
2005 Swetbox- Music video*****
2004 Kashpoint- Battle of The Boutiques @Heaven- catwalk and backstage*****
2004 Kitsch Palace- Music videos*****
2004 GiGi Von G- Music videos, party and backstage action*****
2004 Just B- Documentary and promo/music video*****
2003 Archangel- Music video*****
2003 The Making of a Bollywood Queen- Feature documentary*****
2002 Patrick Wolf- Live @Mei Hui Liu/Victim Fashion Show*****
2001 Vanessa Galvin/Flawless- Fashion promo*****
2001 Noel Stewart- Fashion promo*****
2001 Mon Amour Mon Parapluie- Multi-award winning short film*****
2000 Gloss- Music video*****
2000 Third Eye Tribe- Music Video*****
2000 Theredhand.com- Documentary/fashion promo*****
1999 Post- Short film*****
1999 Self-Portrait- Short film*****
1998 White Rooms- Video/Sound art collaboration and short film*****
1998 The Lanterna Magika- interviews*****
1998 Czech Mate- Short film*****
1997 She, I- Short film*****
1996 Religion?- Short Documentary*****
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Some nice film reviews:
"mon amour mon parapluie" went on to inspire a series of paintings by Canadian artist David Wilson
"Mon Amour Mon Parapluie" 35mm Short Film
" One of my favorite shorts was MY LOVER, MY UMBRELLA - about a woman who loses her umbrella one day and really misses it. A weird little movie, very surreal... but still very involving. The darned thing is in French, but the story is told visually so language doesn't matter. She goes into a cafe where everyone is debating philosophy... I thought this was going to be another one of those pretentious short films. Just when the I had reached my breaking point for philosophical subtitles, she leaves the cafe... but can't find her umbrella. Some other customer in the cafe has taken it!
She gets drenched walking home from the cafe. Every where she goes, it is pouring rain... rain drips through the ceiling of her house and she has buckets all over the place. She really needs that umbrella! When she goes outside in the rain, everyone around her carries an umbrella... does one of them have her umbrella's distinctive handle? We are on the lookout for her missing umbrella... just as she is! When she passes a dumpster with the skeleton of an umbrella protruding from it, we think "There it is! Look in the dumpster!" The story surrounds her with umbrellas which might be hers. She is a woman who has lost her lover in the city of romance... well, a woman who has lost her umbrella in a city of rain.
The woman eventually finds her umbrella... in the hands of another woman! When a cat fight erupts over the umbrella, we completely understand (even though it would be silly if we were looking at the incident as OUTSIDERS). We would fight for the umbrella, too. We know how important that umbrella is to her, WE have been searching for it the whole darned movie, too! She finally regains her umbrella, and they live happily ever after. I loved how the movie made fun of pretentious films by using silly symbolism. It was beautiful to look at, too! Lots of reflective puddles and great B&W cinematography."
-William C Martell Raindance Film Festival
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So much effort for so slight an endeavour. I'm not knocking it; I only wish Mon Amour Mon Parapluie were longer. The short film looks terrific with crisp, superbly framed black and white photography-a waterlogged waif whose world crumbles after she loses her umbrella-and confident production values, including music and set design. It's largely wordless in a Euro-minimalist kind of way, and shot through with pleasant ambiguity. The minimalism is a problem, though, since it requires generous time and space to be effective, a difficult task for a 10-minute film regardless of its poetic aims. But see it anyway, if only to be impressed with its overall loveliness, and if you've got lots of money, give it to director Giada Dobrzenska and the crew so they can make a feature.
-Barry Link, Vancouver Courier
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"One of the most stunning productions of any length to be made in Vancouver this year."- David Spaner, The Province
Television
LINDENSTRASSE! Ugly Betty, Skins, Gilligan's Island, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Jem and The Holograms, Punky Brewster, Degrassi Junior High.
Below is a segment that I Produced, for an award-winning Channel 4 tv series called "Derren Brown: Mind Control".
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Books
Douglas Coupland, William Gibson, Neil Gaiman, Nick Bantock, Jeff Noon.....
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Magus, The Power of Now
Heroes
The Dalai Lama,
Mother Teresa,
Eckhart Tolle,
Bob Marley,
Albert Einstein,
Sally Bowles,
Isadora Duncan,
Mata Hari,
Agnes Bernelle,
Martha Graham,
Anna Pavlova,
Margot Fonteyn,
Rudolf Nureyev,
Audrey Hepburn,
Joan of Arc,
Andy Warhol,
Anton Perich,
Cindy Sherman,
Pierre et Gilles,
Douglas Coupland,
Neil Gaiman,
William Gibson,
David Bowie,
Madonna
and many more....
GIADA D.'s Details
Status:
Single
Here for:
Networking, Friends
Hometown:
Vancouver/London
Body type:
5' 8" / Slim / Slender
Zodiac Sign:
Cancer
Children:
Someday
Education:
College graduate
Occupation:
Visual & Performance Artist / Writer
GIADA D.'s Schools
University of the Arts London
London, United Kingdom
Graduated: 1999
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Fine Art
Minor: Film & Video
Clubs: Central St. Martin's College of Art & Design
1995 to 1999
GIADA D.'s Companies
Little Wonder Productions London, UK Creative Director
2000-2007
Kitsch Palace Planet Kitsch, UK Creative Director/Performance-Artist/Singer& Song-
About me:
*****
CHECKOUT MY CHANNEL http://www.youtube.com/littlewonderfilms
*****
Founder and creative director of Little Wonder Productions Ltd. (2000), a multi-media production company making films, documentaries, music videos, video art and visuals.
Founder and creative director of Kitsch Palace (2004) a platform for music, performance- art and live shows.
I write poetry, short stories, scripts and diaries for NIGHT Magazine.
I play a re-occuring character on a popular German Soap Opera.
I write lyrics and songs and have recorded most of them, as well as writing for other artists.
I am a qualified and practising yoga teacher.
Writing, Performing and Music are my favoured modes of creative expression.
Film & Video are my favourite mediums as they encapsulate all those elements.
Yoga keeps me aware, compassionate and connected to my true self.
Within you, there is still the child you once were.
Hiding behind fight or flight, from the long-gone enemy.
Long-gone in physical time, but actively present in your hidden mind.
Pulling strings, steering from the back seat. Turn around...
Go deep inside. Face the fears. Then send them away.
Reach up and down and wide as you can.
In your imagination is your reality.
Find your unique, personal truth of who you can be now, today.
Go back to beginnings.
Think on childhood dreams and innocence past.
There lies the power to overcome what chokes you now.
Fresh, exciting optimism once permeated your being! It's still with you and available, but you must dig it out, from beneath the protective shells you once built.
Just stopping by to say hi. Thanks for being our fiend!
The films for 2008 have been selected, be sure to stop by an check them out!
