Over the last sixty years, an elderly artist has been working on a monumental collection of stones: La Ricerca. Exploring the Adige river and the Lessinia mountains, Luigi Lineri has collected and catalogued countless pebbles with human and animal shapes, reminiscent of mysterious prehistoric sculptures. Stones thus become the instrument to research the deepest human nature, amid primordial memories and omens for the future. Evoking mythological images, his artwork pays homage to the struggles of men and women who lived through the infancy of our species, allowing us to become what we are. A collective existential investigation, a journey through time, across symbols, art, ecology and technological progress. Combining the languages of documentary and experimental cinema, La Ricerca is a visionary tale that offers an unprecedented perspective on the human journey and a manifesto of hope for our future.
Director’s notes / I met Luigi Lineri and his artwork in early 2015. This encounter ignited an unprecedented marvel and a long series of questions. A spark that started the development of this film. Luigi’s masterpiece is a formidable tool to investigate universal themes. He has materialized a vast field of anthropological, philosophical and even political topics. Many of these contents are extremely actual and urgent, as for example our conflicting relationship with the ecosystem. Shaping the film structure, I built on top of these elements. Re-contextualized film archives and evocative images/sounds work in an allusive fashion, further exploring the film themes. It’s a continue and open dialogue with Luigi and with the audience. La Ricerca deals with collective empowerment, reshaping lost memories to build a better future. This conservation topic matters also in regards to the survival of the one-of-a-kind art installation created by Luigi Lineri. Given its peculiarities, there is the risk is that it will disappear together with its author, now 85 years old. This film is a legacy of Luigi’s life commitment to art, intended as a way of serving the universal human community. All these motivations supported the long development process of this project, that lasted over 7 years. During this arc of time, many professional embraced this endeavor, in many cases as a passion project, as happened with the world famous musician Nicolás Jaar, composer of the original film score.
Festivals
- World Premiere | Visions du Réel 2023 – Medium Length Competition
- Italian Premiere | BIOGRAFILM 2023 – Biografilm Italia
- Euganea Film Festival 2023 – Feature Documentaries Competition
- Cervino Cinemountain 2023 – Italian Competition
- Film Festival della Lessinia 2023 – Special
- Documentaria 2023 – Visioni DOC Italia Competition
- Premio Libero Bizzarri 2023 – Italia Doc Competition
- French Premiere | PriMED 2023 – First Film Competition
- North American Premiere | Le FIFA 2024 – International Competition
Premi
- Special Youth Jury Award – Visions du Réel 2023
- Grand Prize – Le FIFA 2024
- Special Mention Hera “New Talents” – BIOGRAFILM 2023
- Best Editing – Documentaria 2023
- Andrea Pazienza Award – Premio Libero Bizzarri 2023
Participation of the film project in markets | workshops | development / production / post-production grants
- In Progress | Milano Film Network – Development workshop (2016)
- BioToB | Biografilm Festival – Market (2016)
- IDS – Italian Doc Screenings | Doc.it – Development workshop (2016)
- IDS – Matchmaking | Doc.it – Market (2016)
- Milano Industry Days | Milano Film Network – Winner of Development grant (2016)
- Review | Cortona on the move – Development workshop (2019)
- L’Atelier | Milano Film Network – Winner of Post-production grant (2021)
Credits
- Produced by Giuseppe Petruzzellis – APLYSIA
- Co-produced by Alessandro Carroli – EiE Film | Liza Faktor, Andrea Arena – Vessel
- In collaboration with Lisa Fierro
- With the support of Lombardia Film Commission | MFN
- With the patronage of Parco Regionale Naturale della Lessinia | Comune di Zevio | Comune di San’Anna d’Alfaedo
- Written, produced, directed and edited by Giuseppe Petruzzellis
- With Luigi Lineri
- Based on an idea by Lisa Fierro | Giuseppe Petruzzellis
- Original soundtrack by Nicolás Jaar
- Cinematography Michele Brandstetter de Bellesini, A.I.C. | Giuseppe Petruzzellis
- Editing supervisors Carlotta Cristiani | Valentina Andreoli
- Sound engineer Davide Saggioro
Genre: Documentary / Experimental
Running time: 62′
Format: 2K DCI Flat 1,85:1 | DCP Stereo