Alessandro Gualtieri is ‘The Nose,’ the Italian avant-garde perfumer in search of the perfect scent in director Paul Rigter’s documentary, The Nose: Searching for Blamage. Seen here traveling the world for new scent inspirations for ‘Blamage,’ the 10th and final perfume in his Nasomatto (Crazy Nose) line, Gualtieri spent his 20s creating scents for a large pharmaceutical company, but left after his more radical ideas were rejected.

“He was fascinated by the fact that some of the classic perfumes were the result of an actual mistake somebody made in the production process,” says Rigter, who followed Gualtieri as he scoured Amsterdam, Dubai, India, Oman and Milan. “This new project was the perfect way for him to free himself from any convention. We are not really aware of how much smell affects our lives. Up until the point when we choose our partners.”

Gualtieri recently launched a new perfume line inspired by his grandfather Vincenz's garden, Orto Parisi.

The Nose, according to Paul Rigter

Number of samples in Gualtieri's library:
2,000.

On the allure of the Middle East:
”The Middle East was particularly important to him, partly because his perfumes have had great recognition there but also because people there appreciate perfume on a different level than in Western countries."

On the smell of Toronto:
At the premiere of the film at Hot Docs film festival in Toronto the audience wanted to know what the city smells like. With much disgust, Gualtieri answered: “Wet carpet.”

Maksymilian Fus Mickiewicz is Editor of T-R-E-M-O-R-S.