NEOLOVISMO

Isolated in a house on an Italian island, a couple struggles to find the bond that once united them, and as they attempt to reconnect with each other, they decide to stage their relationship dynamics in front of the camera as a way to dispel their fears and insecurities.
A film made entirely by two people.

  • Susanna
    Director
    The Fish Doctor (short), Last Stop Before Chocolate Mountain (creative documentary), Wasteplanet (short)
  • Mike Bruce
    Director
    Treasure of the Black Jaguar (feature)
  • Susanna della Sala
    Writer
    The Fish Doctor (short), Last Stop Before Chocolate Mountain (creative documentary), Wasteplanet (short)
  • Mike Bruce
    Writer
    Treasure of the Black Jaguar (feature), Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - The Death of You and Me (Music Video)
  • Susanna della Sala
    Producer
    The Fish Doctor (short), Last Stop Before Chocolate Mountain (creative documentary)
  • Mike Bruce
    Producer
    Treasure of the Black Jaguar (feature)
  • Susanna della Sala
    Key Cast
    Wasteplanet (short), Il Nostro Ultimo (feature film) by Ludovico di Martino,
  • Mike Bruce
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    NEOLOVISMO
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    comedy, romance, drama, fiction
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 16 minutes 32 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 30, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    English, Italian
  • Shooting Format:
    Blackmagic Cinema Pocket
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 56a Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema di Pesaro
    Pesaro
    Italy
    August 24, 2020
    Italian Premiere
    Special Screening
  • Milan International Film Festival
    Milan
    Italy
    NOMITATION FOR BEST FILM AND BEST SCREENPLAY
  • Kansas City Film Festival International
    online
    United States
    June 15, 2021
    no premiere
    Innovative Storytelling in Film
  • Bendfilm Festival
    Bend, Oregon
    United States
    October 8, 2021
    Official selection
  • Cambria Film Festival
    Cambria
    United States
    February 3, 2022
Director Biography - Susanna, Mike Bruce

Susanna della Sala, born in Italy in 1987 is an author, director and actor. She started out as a dancer and then graduated at the Italian national film school Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia of Rome and studied at HB Studios of New York. She wrote and directed the dramedy shortfilm The Fish Doctor which stars Giorgio Cantarini from Benigni's oscar winning La Vita è Bella and won best foreign shortfilm at the Lady Filmmakers Festival in Los Angeles and was selected for several other international festivals. She also wrote and directed the shortfilm WastePlanet produced by the dance film company COORPI based in Turin. She won the ARMANI lab contest with the fashion spot BE and won a production prize. She’s now working on the feature documentary Last Stop Before Chocolate Mountain produced by DOCLAB (internationally known for Sacro Gra, best film at Venice Film Festival) She's then wrote, directed and starred in the narrative film Neolovismo together with filmmaker Mike Bruce. She now directing the shortfilm Wig produced by Amarena Film.
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Mike Bruce is an American film director, writer and producer. Born and raised in Northern California, Bruce began his career playing bass for the psychedelic rock band Low Flying Owls. In 2005 he moved to Los Angeles to further his interest in film and made his first feature "The Legend of God's Gun" described in Popmatters - "rips through your brain and severs your synapses, shredding what you know about film and replacing it with a brand new celluloid language". His most recent film, 'Treasure of the Black Jaguar', was received with critical acclaim winning the Distribution Award at the Raindance Film Festival and Best Cinematography Award at First Glance Film Festival Hollywood. The Hollywood Reporter described Treasure as a "Well-made adventure set in Sergio Leone-type terrain and blasted with Robert Rodriguez-ish firepower...a delirious descent into a heart-of-darkness, where survival instincts and base greed trump basic goodness and civilized values."

The Raindance Film Festival listed Bruce as one of the top ten American filmmakers to watch for in 2011. Bruce's video for Noel Gallagher's 'AKA...What a Life!' made the Top 20 Most Awesome Videos of 2011 on yahoo which was the finale to "the most successful music video trilogy of all time" according to Entertainment Weekly.

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Director Statement

Neolovismo is a singular project marked by a strongly autobiographical component. We made the film entirely without the support of a crew after facing a long period of isolation in 2019. We took advantage of our unique situation with no way of knowing in just over a year every couple on the planet would be faced with the intimate interpersonal challenges we were dealing with. In this unique situation, we found ourselves dealing with with an unexpected incommunicability so we felt the urgency to stage our relational dynamics. Equipped with basic equipment we began a process of writing our issues and stage them in front of the camera, between reality and fiction, focusing on a spontaneous dialogue to be as honest and authentic as possible.
Through the eyes of the two characters, both of whom find themselves so distant in their path to fulfillment, in their ages and respective existential maturity, the film explores isolation and incommunicability, but above all it reflects on the primal nature of love, that utopian chemistry which can be tainted by traditional forms of communication.