Filming Marco

For anyone reading this who is not familiar with Marco Ienna, he is a Italian living in Korea who has dedicated himself to training in Taekwondo. And to be fair in my explanation of him, he’s made himself into the most recognizable foreigner studying the sport in Korea. He’s been on Korean national TV regularly by now, and he speaks perfectly in Korean language. And he’s handsome with recognizable authentic Italian swagger.

I finally met Marco at GSN, the film studio on campus where I work and he studies when he came to fill out an application for the reality show I used to work on a little over a year ago. The reality show gig never panned out for Marco, and I decided to take his piece, which has now turned into a very large one, into my own hands. I’ve been working on it for almost a full year now and it's still not finished. As documentary films go, I suppose this is not unusual.

The latest chapter of Marco’s piece took place in Rome where he’s from. I was invited by his parents into their home to film and interview them, and to interview friends of his family as well. Seems simple enough right? It would have been if I spoke Italian fluently. Thank goodness I do speak Spanish and have at least limited ability with that language to communicate with Italians.

Being invited into anyone’s home is a special event, and this invitation was no exception. Particular consideration went into our one night stay with them, because I was coming all the way from Korea, and did not speak Italian. Questions for them, for instance, needed to be written in advance, and translated.

Boy did that Spanish come in handy. We were able to communicate efficiently over the course of two meals, and I think I learned more Italian language in a single 24 hour period than any language I’ve ever learned in the same amount of time. I can exclusively thank Mario his father for that, as he is one of the friendliest in the business.

Did I mention his mother makes a super-delicious carbonara. I felt as if I couldn’t have been treated better if they tried.

Keep the faith.