This video is about making links and bridges between the present and the past, between reality and fiction.
The entire clip was filmed in Nouméa (New-Caledonia) during the day we voted for the Independence referendum from France. As it was such a day of major importance for each and every one, we were all gathered in places and homes, and every person was holding their breath during the whole day in wait for the results, leaving the city streets completely empty. Cities in Italy are left vacant the same way when comes the day of the Ferragosto, the celebration of the Assumption, with everyone leaving the towns and the hot summer air that fills every corner for some freshness by the sea.
The soundtrack for this work comes from the movie "Il Sorpasso" which happens to take place during the Ferragosto in Rome. I wanted to draw a parallel and create a fiction between these two situations where on one hand, people leave the city for summer vacation, and on the other hand, people abandon the streets out of fear because they don't know what the future is made of. The similarity between the movie and my video is further enhanced by the black and white images and further more because of the architecture aesthetic that looks just like the movie’s. It is crucial for me in my work to subvert the expectations of the spectators, leaving them think for a while that what they watch is an upbeat video with plain city views, and then explain the meaning behind these images.
The viewer is driven through the town's husk alone, inside a ghost car that we can only hear skid painfully. All the inhabitants are hidden as the most important political vote for the future of the country takes place. I wandered in my hometown, filling the gaps with my camera and recording what only a few saw that day : history unfold.
