Lockdown restrictions have inspired and challenged creatives around the world to tell new, timely stories in a variety of unique ways. Today, as travel restrictions are lifted across Italy, Great Guns directors Federico Mazzarisi and Sofia Rivolta have premiered a personal and evocative new short entitled Learning From The Wind (or Imparare dal Vento). Following two teenagers who get to know each other–and themselves–while separated in quarantine, the film was created entirely in lockdown and inspired by Mazzarisi and Rivolta’s own experiences.
The film begins with voiceover reactions to the horrors Italy experienced when coronavirus first affected the country, before we are introduced to protagonists Ali and Andre. Separated through quarantine, we follow their conversations over text as they deal with the impact of lockdown, watching their day-to-day lives in isolation as they encounter personal and emotional issues. The film ends with Andre sending Ali a video camera he found in his house so they can make a film together–echoing Mazzarisi and Rivolta’s own actions.
The duo began working on the project shortly after Italy’s lockdown, forced to return to their family homes in Puglia and Lombaria respectively. After a week of isolation, Mazzarisi reached out to Rivolta, suggesting they work on a project to pass the time. Initially filming themselves for a “quarantine diary,” they soon realized this approach was too restrictive because their role as directors, whose comfort zone is behind the camera, was not effective enough. Working on a way to fix this, the duo realized they actually had two subjects to film: Mazzarisi’s brother Andrea and Rivolta’s sister Alice. After completing a camera test with their siblings, they knew they had a perfect solution.
Federico Mazzarisi related, “At that time, Great Guns was encouraging me and my colleagues to create content during lockdown and that’s how we started this collaboration. I prepared a pitch and treatment with Sofia, sent the documents to my producers, and they gave us the green light–good to shoot!”
The directors then worked on the script, gradually defining how to tell the story scene by scene and borrowing from their own experiences. The duo learned to observe and craft their direction from the day-to-day events that affected the country, unable to predict how things would change in the future. Due to the age of their subjects, Federico and Sofia wanted the film to have a teenage perspective, with a natural element also central to the narrative. Fortunate enough to live in rural locations, the directors used the backdrop of gardens and trees to portray a delicate but genuine depiction of the crisis through the eyes of two teenagers.
