The children of the sleeping giant (first feature)

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The children of the sleeping giant (Sacro Moderno)

The children of the sleeping giant (Sacro Moderno)

original title:

Sacro Moderno

directed by:

cast:

Filippo Lanci, Simone Caruso, Mattia Caruso

screenplay:

cinematography:

music:

Freddie Murphy, Chiara Lee

country:

Italy

year:

2021

film run:

69'

format:

colour

aspect ratio:

1.66:1

festivals & awards:

In the little town of Intermesoli there are few people left. Simone, a young man, the implicit heir of memories and ancient traditions, takes the burden of all the town responsibilities. Filippo, hermit and individualist, lives not far away from the town.
Far away from everyone, he tries to rebuild himself and his faith. Simone and Filippo, linked by oppressing silences, have to face all the limitations and inner compromises under the watchful eye of a people that, unknowingly, overwhelms their lives and their destiny.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
In an historic period where little town are disappearing, and with them their ancient traditions, “Holy Modern” comes to life. A docu-film that tells the story and the destiny of a mountain community that tries to survive by all means.
The goal of this film is to show all the main characters’ different point of view. In different ways, they try to distance themselves from a hierarchical and powerful system that consolidated in this kind of towns with the passing of years. The film, at the beginning, focuses on the concept of responsibility that Simone has towards his community, but then slowly shifts his focus on the theme of violence and how it impacts the characters’ lives. A silent violence that forces Simone to act without even really thinking. The film and the characters’ souls move around this two anguishing themes.
A community that is not often shown in the film, but it silently shapes and watches over Simone’s destiny and the ones that interact with him. The film wants to make the viewers feel a sense of oppression and loneliness, through the bewilderment of the characters’ souls, characters that don’t have a real landmark. With the help of the cinematic medium, we decided to tell a multitude of emotions, switching from moving to fixed shots, to get close to the characters’ hidden feelings but, at the same time, to give them freedom to act with the utmost respect.
The ultimate goal was to try to create an intentionally magical universe, a middle ground between a dark fairy tale and a coming-of-age film, where viewers can get lost into the dilated pace of an apparent silence, trying to find inside themselves the true meaning of the film. A dark and tragic truth that will probably always exist in such a little and hidden world, but universally understandable.