THE STORY
A cave in the Apuan Alps, 650 meters underground, is home to the deepest work of art in the world. It portrays a marble colossus, a naked giant asleep in the heart of Earth, which the sculptor Filippo Dobrilla has been working on for more than 30 years in absolute solitude in the darkness of the cave.
What drives an artist to descend into one of the deepest abysses of Europe to achieve his most ambitious work, yet inaccessible to the eyes of men? This is the question which Caveman wants to answer, tracing Filippo’s youthful homosexual passions, his need for isolation, his idea of a pure and uncompromising art.
For him plunging into the darkness of the cave means seeking refuge in a place where he can feel free, protected and distant from the prejudice and influences of contemporary society. But the unexpected discovery of a tumour will radically change his life. Once again Filippo will find himself sliding in the darkness, this time there is no way of returning to the light.
credits
| directed by | Tommaso Landucci |
| written by | Tommaso Landucci Damiano Femfert |
| DOP | Francesca Zonars |
| sound | Gina Keller |
| editor | Loredana Cristelli |
| original music | Marcel Vaid |
| creative producer | Dario Zonta |
| produced by | Marco Visalberghi Doclab, Italy |
| Ivan Madeo Contrast Film, Switzerland |
|
| commissioning editor | Silvana Bezzola Rigolini SRF |
| Sven Wälti SRG SSR |
|
| world sales | Deckert Distribution |
| directed by | Tommaso Landucci |
| written by | Tommaso Landucci Damiano Femfert |
| DOP | Francesca Zonars |
| sound | Gina Keller |
| editor | Loredana Cristelli |
| original music | Marcel Vaid |
| creative producer | Dario Zonta |
| produced by | Marco Visalberghi Doclab, Italy |
| Ivan Madeo Contrast Film, Switzerland |
|
| commissioning editor |
Silvana Bezzola Rigolini SRF |
| Sven Wälti SRG SSR |
|
| world sales | Deckert Distribution |
Cave special unit by La Venta Esplorazioni Geografiche
Director: Tullio Bernabei, Photography: Mattia Bernabei
Tommaso Landucci
DIRECTOR
Tommaso Landucci was born in Lucca, Tuscany, in 1989. He was selected for the directing course at the C.S.C. in Rome, the Italian National Cinema School. He worked as an assistant director for Claudio Giovannesi on Alì Blue Eyes and for Luca Guadagnino on A Bigger Splash. During this experience he also met director James Ivory, who became his mentor and executive producer of his first feature film called The Levitants. He is currently working on two projects: “Re Di Venere”, written together with Michela Murgia and “I figli della scimmia”, prize finalist at the Solinas Award.
the origin of the film
L’ABISSO
A SHORT FILM BY TOMMASO LANDUCCI
“I heard about Filippo Dobrilla by chance when, in a tiny village of the Apuan Alps, in Tuscany, two hunters talked about a statue sculpted in the very heart of the marble mountains. Nobody has seen the statue. It depicts – I was told – a naked man, lying down, over 10 feet tall. I thought it was just a local legend…”
Director Tommaso Landucci remembers how this short film came to life, a real investigation among the marble diggers, the inhabitants of the mountain, collectors and family members, around the mystery of a venture Fitzcarraldo style. The fascination for the Tuscan artist led to the feature film Caveman.
Filippo Dobrilla
The artist and his works
The descent into the cave
Caveman at Venice
Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica di Venezia
Giornate degli Autori – Notti Veneziane
Tuesday 07 September 2021
21:30 Sala Laguna Public, free entrance V.O. ITA sub ENG
Wednesday 08 September 2021
15:00 Cinema Rossini, Veniceù
Caveman at Florence
Festival dei Popoli, Florence
produced by
distributed by
media partner
