Three original songs, three crews of young filmmakers and three music videos: the 2025 edition of the project brought together RUFA Film Arts students and musicians from the Saint Louis College of Music.
Created by RUFA and the Saint Louis College of Music, Music Meets Film Arts is the format through which the two AFAM institutions renew their creative collaboration, promoting experimentation, dialogue between artistic languages and interdisciplinary work.
The project involved RUFA Film Arts students and students from the Jazz, Pop and Songwriting programmes at the Saint Louis College of Music. At the heart of the project was the production of three music videos for three original songs composed and performed by Saint Louis artists.
Divided into three crews, the RUFA students and filmmakers translated music into images, developing an original visual concept for each song and overseeing every stage of the audiovisual production process: from listening to and analysing the track to writing, production and post-production.
From music to visual concept
Music Meets Film Arts was developed within the Cinematography course taught by RUFA lecturer Francesco Pennica, as an in-depth module dedicated to the languages and techniques of music videos, from the 1980s to the most contemporary forms of audiovisual production and distribution.
The project was developed in collaboration with Federico Landini’s Sound Design course and the Saint Louis Music Production record production team, coordinated by Alessandro Peana for the Saint Louis College of Music.
The music video is a hybrid and cross-disciplinary medium capable of bringing together cinema, music, photography, performance and communication. Having gained prominence with the rise of MTV in the 1980s, it continues to provide fertile ground for visual research and experimentation with new forms of storytelling. Starting from the selected tracks, RUFA students analysed their atmospheres, lyrics, rhythms and musical identities, developing creative proposals capable of interpreting and expanding each artist’s visual world.
RUFA students working as professional film crews
Following the initial research and concept development phase, each group worked through the entire production process of its music video: concept writing, narrative development, definition of the visual style, selection of locations, cast and costumes, shoot planning, editing, sound design and post-production.
The students were thus able to experience working methods similar to those of a professional film crew, taking on different responsibilities, roles and skills while transforming a musical track into a complete audiovisual project.
Direct dialogue with the Saint Louis musicians was a central element of the project. Filmmakers and artists collaborated throughout every stage, sharing references, ideas and creative inspirations to develop a common vision consistent with the identity of each track.
“Così” – Bohris
Artist
Bohris – vocals and songwriter
RUFA Team
Greg Bateson – directing
Kristian Dimitrov – screenwriting
Elena Cavazzini – cinematography
Giorgia Cadei – editing and production design
Plamen Rizov – VFX
Marta Fiore – camera operator
Simone Bongiovanni – first assistant camera (1st AC)
Umberto Antonaci – lighting technician
Gengyuan Zhang – lighting technician
Eva Laevskaya – behind-the-scenes filming (BTS)
Federico Baroncelli – behind-the-scenes filming (BTS)
Eloisa Font – behind-the-scenes editing (BTS)
The song “Così” was produced by Fabio Balestrieri for Saint Louis Music Production as part of the Urban 49 series.
Watch the official music video for “Così” by Bohris
Watch the behind-the-scenes video for “Così” by Bohris
“Cuori e Spine” – Chiara Castiglione
Artist
Chiara Castiglione – vocals and songwriter
RUFA Team
Debraj Mukhrejee – directing and editing
Stefan Petronijevic – screenwriting
Daniel Grachev – cinematography
Lizi Tabagari – production
Chiara De Benedetti – production design
Zeynep Ozturhan – assistant director (AD)
Sofiya Arpaci – camera operator
Karl Owen Johnson – camera operator
Eva Laevskaya – behind-the-scenes filming (BTS)
Luca Interlandi – behind-the-scenes filming and editing (BTS)
The song “Cuori e Spine” was recorded, mixed and mastered by Valerio Massi.
Watch the behind-the-scenes video for “Cuori e Spine” by Chiara Castiglione
“For All I Own” – Francesca Feci
Artist
Francesca Feci – vocals and songwriter
RUFA Team
Marta Vaselli – directing and screenwriting
Francesca Elena Barucca – screenwriting and assistant directing (AD)
Vasilissa Mrochko – production and editing
Martino Tamborski – cinematography
Beyza Korkut – production design
Baldassarre Caradonna – camera operator
Matteo Quarenghi – camera operator
Lorenzo Martelli – first assistant camera (1st AC)
Karl Owen Johnson – colour grading and behind-the-scenes filming (BTS)
Joyel Nelson – behind-the-scenes filming (BTS)
Xiang Ding – behind-the-scenes editing (BTS)
The song “For All I Own” was produced by Stefano Mastruzzi, Director of the Saint Louis College of Music.
