This short film takes us on a journey within the ruins of memory, revealing images of the past in a new perspective. It’s a return to the origins, reflected in the choice of technique used in the film, 500 handmade drawings with pen on paper produced over the course of 15 weeks.
A solitary work, meticulous and complex. Inspired by “The Desert of Tartar” by Dino Buzzati and the artwork of Mimmo Paladino. Dell’attesa is a moment of reflection and confrontation of our personal conflicts: with the people and the society that surround us, with ourselves; our fears, our failures, our disappointments.
An individual’s place within the community is an unresolved question in today’s society. On the one hand, the protection of the community acts as a shield or support against the adversities of life, on the other hand it can be an element of oppression and limitation.
By crushing the individual, one is pushed into a system of self-censorship. This is especially true for people with weak and sensitive personalities. Small villages and the country-side are often the places where this sort of dynamic occurs: constant judgment, false rhetoric, haughty and rigid religious creeds are only some of the repressive elements that are hidden within the realities of small towns. If an individual experiences situations of conflict and distress in life, the solution will be to run away seeking refuge in more open minded environments where the individual can feel free to experiment without being afraid of community control.
This kind of society allows for rediscovery of oneself and the freedom of expression. However, it also exposes the individual to major demands of the global market. It is a “performative” type of society that forces one to live under the stress of having to be happy whatever the circumstance, the need to always show a big smile even in the worst moment of frailty. It’s impossible to be forgiving. One can never allow oneself to be down, feel tired, desperate or in pain. One bends over with fatigue, with regrets and a sense of guilt thus repressing the possibility to be human and therefore accept inevitable imperfections.
Behold the metropolis made up of a mass of individuals often so alienated from one another that they rarely manage to experience that sense of community they once had. This alienation triggers a reaction of self-protection that along with one’s selfish needs can easily turn into exasperated individualism. Getting in touch with people becomes damaging and painful, the tendency is to isolate oneself from society. Walls and fortresses are built in order to protect one’s own feelings. From there comes the need to wear a mask which helps to absorb the blows received while striving to show the best side of oneself. However, what happens when the mask cracks under the stress endured? What happens when self-confidence and certainties fail and one feels the ground give way under one’s feet?
One has the impression of living a mediocre life, a life of disappointment and disillusion – in a world made up of contradictions which encourages sameness and uniformity but at the same time idolises uniqueness. Those who stand out – who are seen as special individuals showing no weaknesses nor signs of imperfection are rewarded.
Alienation and self-confinement are eventually the best solutions in order to avoid pain, running away as far as possible, trying to reach happiness by watching it from afar with binoculars.
Completely detached from one’s surroundings the individual is alienated, isolated, lost. Solitude and nostalgia gain the upper hand, one abandons expectations and desires, looking up at the sky one realises that one is only an imperceptible spot in the vastness of the universe, eventually one surrenders to the hope of the arrival of someone that could mend the wounds.
Hence as lieutenant Drogo is looking for war, our protagonist here is constantly searching for peace, lost in an infinite loop, waiting endlessly. Some say good things come to those who wait.
