The film was born from a shared experience: the 2020 lockdown. A suspended time that physically separated people and accelerated the move toward an increasingly virtual world. We learned to remain connected at a distance, filtering emotions and relationships through screens. What began as necessity became habit; what was once an exception turned into normality.
From this came the idea of imagining a not-so-distant future: a fantastic and grotesque world where this dynamic has taken root and become the rule. A universe of holograms and virtual relationships, entirely “Made in Italy,” where technology is flawed, imperfect, almost artisanal—yet accepted by everyone as a substitute for reality.
To express this contrast, we chose to combine live action and animation. On one side Rome, an ancient and physical city that still stands in all its presence; on the other, crooked and fragile digital avatars, brought to life by the candid and ironic voices of Romans, who continue—through their unmistakable fatalism—to carry on with everyday life.
In this seemingly dystopian world, the focus of the film is not technology, but what survives beyond it: the possibility of an authentic encounter. An encounter that restores meaning to touch, to the gaze, and to human exchange.
