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Steven Scaffidi’s Shortlist

Published on December 8, 2011

The Shortlist article series is your opportunity to learn about the films that inspire intellectual, artistic and activist leaders – leaders like Steven Scaffidi. We asked Steven to share his favorite films and his thoughts on the power of film to change the world.

So what films make Steven’s Shortlist? Keep reading to find out.

Who is Steven Scaffidi?

Steven Scaffidi is an award-winning filmmaker who has written, produced, and directed many documentary and feature films for television and the big screen. With over 25 years of experience, Steven’s films have won awards at many top international film festivals including New York, Telluride, Houston, and Rome. He’s also the recipient of the prestigious Humanitarian Vision Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival and was a Finalist in the Academy Awards. Steven has unique flair for story-telling and is a prolific writer having written more than 10 original screenplays and television scripts over the past few years. His films have been invited to screen at some of the most acclaimed universities in the world including UCLA, Central Washington and Tulane University in the USA, and The University of Cambridge, Sussix University and Kings College of London in the UK. Steven is also a published author and he’s the Writer/Producer of one of the most successful plays in the history of Louisiana local theater having drawn a crowd of close to 5,000 people on opening weekend for his original play “Ain’t Dat Super!”.

Forgotten on the Bayou
His documentary film “Forgotten on the Bayou” recently premiered in prime-time on national television and he has created television shows that have been syndicated across America and seen around the world. Currently Steven is in development on a new feature film based on his original screenplay “The Mystery of 11:11”, and two films “The Sojourners” and “Execution” are scheduled to be released in 2012.

Steven Scaffidi on the Power of Film

Documentary Films are a powerful way to educate as well as entertain the masses. Even though I love writing screenplays and making dramatic feature films, I truly appreciate the freedom of making an honest documentary about a serious subject matter that I’m passionate about. I seem to gravitate to stories about the little guy overcoming the odds and achieving a great goal. You know, the David vs. Goliath story. I’ve always pulled for the underdog in sports so it’s only natural that I would pull for the underdog in life. The human struggle is what I love to focus on the most. Maybe it’s because I feel like I am always pushing a bolder up a hill no matter how successful others may perceive me to be. The more honest a film is, the more powerful it is for me. I’m a dreamer and tend to have big ideas and a strong vision about anything I get involved with. Documentaries about people who have big dreams, like Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, or anyone else who has made a difference in the world are my favorite stories. What makes documentaries so powerful in my opinion is because they are about real life…and you know the saying…reality is stranger than fiction.
Currently I have a few projects that we are working on for 2012. The release of my psychological thriller “Execution” is set to come out after the first of the year. This is a story about 2 filmmakers who hide cameras on death row and film a man’s execution in the electric chair. The footage has been hidden from the public for over 10 years…until now. www.executionfilm.com . “The Sojourners” is a documentary about my son and I as we journey to the other side of the world as we follow 50 young people in search of understanding one of the most mysterious and sacred places on earth. www.thesojournersmovie.com . And finally, we are getting ready to prep a new film that we are planning to shoot in January/February from a screenplay entitled “The Mystery of 11:11”. The story is a thriller inspired by the true life of my father. www.themysteryof1111.com . You can see more on my website www.ghostriderpictures.com.
Steven Scaffidi’s Shortlist:

Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
I think this film is one of the best documentaries ever made. I always watch this film before I go into production on a film of my own. What makes this film so powerful to me is it’s brutal honesty from filmmaker Eleanor Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola’s wife) and even the honesty of Francis Ford Coppola himself. After watching this film and seeing how close Coppola came to insanity while making “Apocalypse Now”, I feel like there is nothing that can get in my way when I dive into my own production. What a great story!

Psycho
In my opinion this was Hitchcock’s best film. The shower scene will go down in film history as one of the scariest scenes ever captured on film. The beautiful thing about that scene is that you really never see the knife actually stab Janet Leigh. That proves that you don’t have to chop off people’s heads to make a great horror film. Psycho is still light years ahead of horror films that have to show all of the gore to frighten the audience.

Duel
This is Steven Spielberg’s first feature and one of his best. What I love about this film is that it has a simple story line that keeps you on the edge of your seat. We all can relate to road rage and this film takes it to the limit when an unseen driver of a truck tries to run a traveling salesman played by Dennis Weaver off the road. The shot of the wheels still turning after the truck goes off of the cliff is the most memorable to me.

Children of Men
What I most liked about this film is the look and feel of impending doom and fear. It’s a great chase film that I bought into from the beginning simply because of the premise; a story about a man who tries to save a pregnant woman when humans can no longer procreate. The most memorable scene in the film is the long, long un-cut scene where Clive Owen tries to escape with the woman as the bad guys close in.

The Exorcist
No doubt about it, the scariest film of all time. I will never forget what it was like to stand in line for hours before the screening then to sit in the audience waiting with anticipation before the film started. That experience reminded me of an amusement park ride at Disney World. Seeing “The Exorcist” was much more than just going to a movie, it was an experience that scared everyone to death.

Deliverance
A great film by director John Boorman. This is possibly Burt Reynolds best performance and not doubt Ned Beatty’s most memorable - even though he may not want to admit it since he had to “squeal like a pig”. The most memorable scene in the film to me was when Ronny Cox played dueling banjos with the autistic kid.

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