2522 Film Spotlight

Today’s film spotlight focuses on the short film 2522 directed by Alex Bernardi.

What is the title of your film and what inspired said title?

The title of the film is 2522. They wanted something short and incisive to immediately capture the viewer’s attention and bring it to the actual size of the short. So we thought that calling it exactly like the year in which the short is set could immediately lead the viewer to worry about the future being only 500 years from now.

Tell us a little bit about the story and origins of your film.

This film tells our point of view on the present and on the kind of future we face. It does not arise only from our reflection on the state of the planet, but from a careful analysis of data, estimates, and official reports. Starting from there, we made a hypothetical forecast based on the curve and the increase in pollution, the decrease in biodiversity, global warming and the reparative and change actions that man is trying to implement. This estimate has given us a worrying result, and we have understood that already 500 years from now the planet will be completely different. And from here came the idea of telling this story, albeit in a very short and very focused way, to raise awareness of this issue that is too often minimized, almost forgotten.

Any films or filmmakers that inspired this film?

There was no particular inspiration for this film. Or rather, there is always some influence, both conscious and unconscious, but we wanted to bring this image of change and acceptance of what is happening, and of realizing that we are going towards a change in life and a cessation of hope. Even if it is not too late for us spectators. Probably the film that may have inspired us is Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men.

What is the goal of the film for you?

The goal is to sensitize the viewer. The film is made up of a visual part and a very present voice over part. The few shots and camera movements, together with the long sequence shot, really want to underline the importance of the message, of the words that emerge from this stalemate and visual slowness. As if our visual part took a little into the background to give space to the protagonist’s speech. The speech of a man who has now come to an end. He is the last of his kind, the last of what remains of our world. He trudges desperately looking for this last oasis, in this now very changed environment, foreign to us. We hear the thoughts of a man who is living a future that could be ours. This future, his story, could be our story. our end. And in this way we want to awaken the viewer. Remind him that we are already moving in that direction and that the problem cannot be ignored.

What has the journey been like getting the film into production?

Not wanting to create a story of pure invention, the first phase was of scientific research and calculation. The main report we studied is “Report Living planet”. From there we tried to recreate a similar environment by imagining what the world will be like. We made an estimate of how much technology would affect over the next 500 years. How far we would have progressed from the point of view of technological evolution but remained behind as a collective consciousness. Once we have well defined what we wanted to stage and the limits of our universe, we started with the more practical part. The organization of the troupe, the search for the actor, the costumes. We chose Lake Tovel as the location, it seemed to us the best choice, a beautiful but forgotten and lost oasis. We wanted to leave the last trace of beauty that is now about to die like all hope. Having obtained the permits to shoot in the natural park, we left and shot the scenes on which to mount the voice overs, made in the studio.

One thing you learned from this project?

From this project we have certainly better understood respect for the environment. It is an important part of life for all of us. We should think about it more often and make it enter our routine automatically.

How can folks find you and your film online?

You can check out our Website, Instagram and YouTube channel.

Any last pieces of advice for fellow filmmakers?

The only advice I can give is to always continue to believe in your dreams in any case. Passion, commitment, respect and education are the only things that really matter. You have to go on because things don’t come right away, but you will be rewarded for your patience and perseverance. One thing I care a lot about and we always repeat to our team guys is “always keep dreaming”, that’s why we call ourselves Vision Movie Studios. Because we want to bring a fresher vision into Italian cinema, which is mainly made up of an industry full of recommendations and based on nepotism. It is difficult to enter the environment and there is a total absence of meritocracy, so we are trying to build our reality. When we started we were two, now we are nineteen and the only engine, the only drive that keeps everything going is always passion, commitment, willpower, education and respect. There is never anything more. We are not super, we are not better than others. We strive and keep trying, and every failure we see as a lesson to be learned to improve next time. So my little advice is this here.

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