… and his new video of the Italian Flat Track
Francesco Torricella, photographer, videomaker, adventurer, and motorcycle lover, for more than a decade has developped his passion for moving images, awarding prestigious prizes, both in Italy and abroad.
His affection for motorcycles has guided Francesco to customize bikes during spare time and take part in many off-road trips, riding in Marocco, Spain, France, and his homeland Italy.
His last work as a videomaker pays tribute to the Italian founders of the motorcycle race Flat Track.
We are extremely grateful that Francesco has shared his competence and his love for motorcycles with us. In our turn, we want you to see how his journey has started and then gone on.
Here below you can find the full interview to Francesco Torricella and his new video “Di Traverso”.
How did you get interested in video-making?
In high school, I didn’t like to study. I used to skip school and go to the film library instead of in class. I think it was there where I started looking at the cinema in a different way: not only entertainment but a powerful expressive medium that contains in itself almost all the arts. Additionally, in that period, I started experimenting with the first DV cameras and started shooting the first videos with friends.
You have won different awards until now, both in Italy and abroad. Would you like to tell us more about your achievements?
During my professional career, I have often worked in the fashion field. Among the various clients I have worked with, one of the most beautiful collaborations was the one with Kean Etro, the stylist of the men’s line of the ETRO Maison. His way of creating collections was extremely cultured and visionary. It was never a simple product matter, but there were always powerful concepts. He allowed me to express myself freely and to tell these concepts with short films. I believe that this less “commercial” and freer way of working has allowed me to create different fashion films than usual, and this has led to prizes. The rewards are undoubtedly lovely, but they don’t mean much. It is a complex and variable job, often out of your control. But when all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, and you can tell the story exactly as you had it in mind, it is the highest satisfaction.
When did you decide to combine your job as a video maker and director with your motorcycle passion?
They are my greatest passions, and therefore it seemed natural to explore the world of motorcycles with the camera, mainly to try to convey what brings us every time to get on the saddle as soon as possible.
You also personalize motorcycles during your spare time. Could you tell us more about it? And which one of those motorcycles are you more fond of?
At some point in my career, I felt the urge to do something with my own hands to do something that would allow me to detach from the leading intellectual work and get my hands dirty. So, I, together with my cousin, created Sartorie Meccaniche. The first bike was my lightning three and a half, which was also my first bike, since that moment we have made many more and every time trying to raise the bar. The one I’m most proud of is probably the “Trossi.” Under the cleanest lines, there is a great deal of ingenuity and design.
How many projects about motorcycle trips have you personally worked on? Could you give us more details?
I sincerely lost count of how many motorbike trips I have done. I have always loved the motorbike mainly for two reasons: the sensations given by riding, and for being the perfect tool for a particular way of traveling in a nomadic and free way.
What about your last video? What is the motorcycle race Flat Track?
Thanks to Marco Belli, I was able to tell the world of the pioneers of the Italian Flat Track. It is an extraordinarily fascinating and spectacular discipline. It runs without front brakes and at full throttle driving sideways. The riders are always throttled, managing a precarious balance and an even more precarious grip. I find it a fantastic thing.
How did you get interested in video-making?
In high school, I didn’t like to study. I used to skip school and go to the film library instead of in class. I think it was there where I started looking at the cinema in a different way: not only entertainment but a powerful expressive medium that contains in itself almost all the arts. Additionally, in that period, I started experimenting with the first DV cameras and started shooting the first videos with friends.
You have won different awards until now, both in Italy and abroad. Would you like to tell us more about your achievements?
During my professional career, I have often worked in the fashion field. Among the various clients I have worked with, one of the most beautiful collaborations was the one with Kean Etro, the stylist of the men’s line of the ETRO Maison. His way of creating collections was extremely cultured and visionary. It was never a simple product matter, but there were always powerful concepts. He allowed me to express myself freely and to tell these concepts with short films. I believe that this less “commercial” and freer way of working has allowed me to create different fashion films than usual, and this has led to prizes. The rewards are undoubtedly lovely, but they don’t mean much. It is a complex and variable job, often out of your control. But when all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, and you can tell the story exactly as you had it in mind, it is the highest satisfaction.
When did you decide to combine your job as a video maker and director with your motorcycle passion?
They are my greatest passions, and therefore it seemed natural to explore the world of motorcycles with the camera, mainly to try to convey what brings us every time to get on the saddle as soon as possible.
You also personalize motorcycles during your spare time. Could you tell us more about it? And which one of those motorcycles are you more fond of?
At some point in my career, I felt the urge to do something with my own hands to do something that would allow me to detach from the leading intellectual work and get my hands dirty. So, I, together with my cousin, created Sartorie Meccaniche. The first bike was my lightning three and a half, which was also my first bike, since that moment we have made many more and every time trying to raise the bar. The one I’m most proud of is probably the “Trossi.” Under the cleanest lines, there is a great deal of ingenuity and design.
How many projects about motorcycle trips have you personally worked on? Could you give us more details?
I sincerely lost count of how many motorbike trips I have done. I have always loved the motorbike mainly for two reasons: the sensations given by riding, and for being the perfect tool for a particular way of traveling in a nomadic and free way.
What about your last video? What is the motorcycle race Flat Track?
Thanks to Marco Belli, I was able to tell the world of the pioneers of the Italian Flat Track. It is an extraordinarily fascinating and spectacular discipline. It runs without front brakes and at full throttle driving sideways. The riders are always throttled, managing a precarious balance and an even more precarious grip. I find it a fantastic thing.
What is the most memorable trip you’ve ever taken on a motorcycle?
All motorbike trips, for one reason or another, are always memorable. Perhaps because you are still so present while you are riding a motorbike, the journeys remain indelibly engraved in my memory. I do not have a great memory in general, but I can remember the adventures in a motorcycle at any time. I’m sorry to do wrong to the other trips, but maybe that trip I made in Morocco, retracing the traces of the old Paris Dakar, was the most refreshing. We found ourselves in situations where we were on edge, without assistance, but we got through. In 24 hours we passed from the clayey mud of the atlas with temperatures close to zero to the sands of the Sahara with incredible heat, we saw breathtaking sunrises and guided in lunar landscapes, until ended up in the chaos of the Marrakech Medina, truly memorable.
What motorcycle do you use during your road trips? Do you ride alone or with others?
I don’t think you need to have the latest BMW GS to travel by motorbike. Indeed, I am sure that classic motorcycles are the perfect type of motorbike to move because of their intrinsic versatility. You can do a bit of everything, and they are usually not among the bikes faster, and therefore you have time to relax and enjoy the trip. The current bike I use to travel is a Kawasaki W800 that I personally customized. In recent years, however, the asphalt was starting to go a little tight, and the trips became more and more adventurous and voted off-road. For this reason, I decided to support an old Honda XR 250R at the W, with her “you do not go fast”, but “you can go anywhere”. I’ve always made trips with friends, never alone. I think a trip is something that must be shared, and then if you put yourself in the shit, it’s always better to be at least in two.
How do you feel when you ride?
If I had to answer you with only a word, I would say “light.” The way you ride a motorcycle, the feeling of control of the mechanical vehicle, and the inevitable communion that is created between your mind, your body and the bike leads you to live the present and the moment like few other things (maybe sex?). When you drive and especially when you decide to drive, you don’t have time to think about anything else. Still, you only think about driving and how to best face the next corner, this being in the moment leads you to get rid of all the kicks you bring with you in ordinary life, while it clears and the heart becomes lighter, it is truly a unique and beautiful feeling.
Together we have done many road trips and collaborations: from the Croce Domini Pass to the one until the Pyrenees. What is for you the lost horizon, the Shangri-La?
I genuinely hope Daniel decides to take an enduro, so we can finally go and look for the Shangri-La where the asphalt ends. Kyrgyzstan?
What is the most memorable trip you’ve ever taken on a motorcycle?
All motorbike trips, for one reason or another, are always memorable. Perhaps because you are still so present while you are riding a motorbike, the journeys remain indelibly engraved in my memory. I do not have a great memory in general, but I can remember the adventures in a motorcycle at any time. I’m sorry to do wrong to the other trips, but maybe that trip I made in Morocco, retracing the traces of the old Paris Dakar, was the most refreshing. We found ourselves in situations where we were on edge, without assistance, but we got through. In 24 hours we passed from the clayey mud of the atlas with temperatures close to zero to the sands of the Sahara with incredible heat, we saw breathtaking sunrises and guided in lunar landscapes, until ended up in the chaos of the Marrakech Medina, truly memorable.
What motorcycle do you use during your road trips? Do you ride alone or with others?
I don’t think you need to have the latest BMW GS to travel by motorbike. Indeed, I am sure that classic motorcycles are the perfect type of motorbike to move because of their intrinsic versatility. You can do a bit of everything, and they are usually not among the bikes faster, and therefore you have time to relax and enjoy the trip. The current bike I use to travel is a Kawasaki W800 that I personally customized. In recent years, however, the asphalt was starting to go a little tight, and the trips became more and more adventurous and voted off-road. For this reason, I decided to support an old Honda XR 250R at the W, with her “you do not go fast”, but “you can go anywhere”. I’ve always made trips with friends, never alone. I think a trip is something that must be shared, and then if you put yourself in the shit, it’s always better to be at least in two.
How do you feel when you ride?
If I had to answer you with only a word, I would say “light.” The way you ride a motorcycle, the feeling of control of the mechanical vehicle, and the inevitable communion that is created between your mind, your body and the bike leads you to live the present and the moment like few other things (maybe sex?). When you drive and especially when you decide to drive, you don’t have time to think about anything else. Still, you only think about driving and how to best face the next corner, this being in the moment leads you to get rid of all the kicks you bring with you in ordinary life, while it clears and the heart becomes lighter, it is truly a unique and beautiful feeling.
Together we have done many road trips and collaborations: from the Croce Domini Pass to the one until the Pyrenees. What is for you the lost horizon, the Shangri-La?
I genuinely hope Daniel decides to take an enduro, so we can finally go and look for the Shangri-La where the asphalt ends. Kyrgyzstan?
Keep dreaming
Looking for the Shangri-La
