Inside 'High Tide' – A Talk with Director Marco Calvani and Star Marco Pigossi

EDGE:: When you were getting into Lourenço's mindset, did you go on beach walks and go swimming in the sea to figure out how he feels connected to the place?

Marco Pigossi: I immigrated in a very privileged way: With a career, with papers and documents, and everything correct. But there's always this feeling of, "I don't want to go back, I want to make it happen here, but I don't even know what is here or what is waiting for me." This feeling was very known to me.

EDGE: You're right when you say it's a movie about the immigration experience, but it's also a movie that meditates on what it means to have a home and be at home somewhere.

Marco Calvani: I feel that by the end of the film every single character ends up redefining their idea of home – even, in a way, the character Marisa Tomei [plays], Miriam. She's still kind of stuck in trying to take care of her former husband. I think by the end, through her connection with Lourenço, she will learn something different. Same for Scott, the character played by Bill Irving, whose husband died a long time ago and he's still living in that relationship – I feel through his connection with Lorenzo he will learn a different way.

It's true what you're saying, that it is a film that questions the idea of home. What does it mean to really belong to a place, but also to a person, and to yourself?

EDGE: Talking about home and Provincetown, would you want to go back?

Marco Calvani: Yes, but the beauty of it is, I was lucky. I was invited during the pandemic to stay as much as I wanted. Friends of mine had a guest house, and everybody canceled [because of the pandemic]. But in general, it's a place where you go for a week, so the clock is always ticking – which is part of the fun, too, so of course, you want to go back.

If you've been there, you know how hard it is to get to Provincetown, as much as it's hard to leave once you find your way there. But that's also what we tell in the film: It's a faraway piece of land, and its charm comes exactly from that. I hope we were able to bring that kind of vibe to the screen.

Marco Pigossi: But that goes back to the sense of belonging. I think the sense of community that the city brings, and this feeling of being majority and being a part of that community, that's what makes you really want to go back to Provincetown. That's how we, as queer men, feel in a place like that, and I think that's what the film is about. You will belong here with all your beauty and your flaws and your problems. It's a very welcoming place in that sense.

EDGE: You show so many iconic places in Provincetown. We see Spiritus Pizza, we see the dunes, we see The A House. There was a certain dock I was waiting for, but it didn't show up. [Laughter]

Marco Calvani: You're not allowed to name it?
[Laughter]

EDGE: I don't know! You tell me.

Marco Calvani: You know, I've seen a few films where Provincetown was represented, and I didn't want this film to be an ad for the town. I wanted to place it there and let the characters and the story take you to certain places. You mentioned the dock, but there's so many other places that define Provincetown that, in the end, are not shown in the film. The story didn't need to happen there, so you don't see [the characters] there.

"High Tide" is in theaters. It is available on VOD on December 10.