Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

July 2 - 10, 2010

Waves
( Onde )

Colour, 35 mm
Italy, 2004, 92 min
Section: Another View
www.ondefilm.com

Director: Francesco Fei
Screenplay: Francesco Fei, Pier Nosari
Dir. of Photography: Matteo De Martini
Music: Rafael Toral, William Basiski
Designer: Alessio Baskakis
Editor: Claudio Bonafede
Producer: Elena Periti
Production: Apnea Film
Contact: Apnea Film

Cast

Anita Caprioli, Ignazio Oliva, Filippo Timi, Marina Remi

Synopsis

In his debut, the director depicts the fragile inner world of two young people suffering from physical handicaps. The story isn’t told chronologically; both heroes Francesca and Luca travel back in their reminiscences and dreams to reconstruct the individual stages of their complex relationship. They met in the tranquil and magical environment of a Genoese aquarium. They slowly try to understand each other, to overcome their mistrust and doubts as to why one should have chosen the other. After bitter experiences from her childhood and adolescence, Francesca cannot believe that she could be loved by anyone. She is initially frustrated that the only person who is able to listen to her, to treat her as an equal partner and appreciate her beauty, is the blind Luca. He, on the other hand, is suspicious that Francesca is more fascinated by his blindness, and the non-conformist music he writes, than by him as a person. Francesco Fei has created a minimalist film about emotions, yet surprising for its discretion, inner tension and use of interesting visual means, such as shots taken from an industrial camera.

About the director

Francesco Fei (b. 1967, Florence) began at the end of the 1980s to make short films which won a number of awards at Italian film festivals. He then went on to create music video clips and worked with various Italian musicians and artists such as Battiato, Ligabue, Liftiba, Carmen Consoli, Negrita, Verdena etc. He also taught film history and theory. He established his own production company in 2004 and filmed his feature-length debut Waves.