Through the Waves
Salvo, 45 years old with a rough and worn look and Lea 30, of dazzling and melancholy beauty, travel in a refrigerator truck immersed in a stony and dark nature. Suspended between the nostalgia of a past that once made them happy and a present that oscillates between rancor and desire for love, they travel, without stopping, in a night that seems to have no end. A road movie that has the tones of a modern black fairy tale.
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Marco AmentaDirectorThe Sicilian Girl, The Ghost of Corleone, Magic Island
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Ugo ChitiWriterGomorrah, Dogman, Tale of Tales
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Roberto ScarpettiWriterDove non ho mai abitato, Giochi d'estate, Magic Island
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Niccolò StazziWriterThe Lone Girl
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Marco AmentaWriterThe Sicilian Girl, The Ghost of Corleone, Magic Island
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Simonetta AmentaProducerThe Sicilian Girl, The Ghost of Corleone, Magic Island
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Enzo PorcelliProducerThe Keys to the House, The Missing Star, The Butterfly Room
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Giuliano BerrettaProducerNati Due Volte, La Boheme, Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Viaggio Ad Ercolano
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Cristina MarquesProducerNati Due Volte, La Boheme, Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Viaggio Ad Ercolano
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Vincenzo AmatoKey Cast"Salvo"Unbroken, Boardwalk Empire, Respiro, The Golden Door, Nuovomondo, American Crime Story, Respiro
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Sveva AlvitiKey Cast"Lea"Dalida, The Bouncer, Restiamo amici
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Project Title (Original Language):Tra le Onde
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Project Type:Feature
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Runtime:1 hour 32 minutes 22 seconds
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Completion Date:September 2, 2020
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Production Budget:800,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Italy
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Country of Filming:Italy
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Language:Italian
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:1.85:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Marco Amenta was born in Palermo in 1970. He grew up in Sicily and started working as a photo-journalist for “Il Giornale di Sicilia” and other Italian magazines and newspapers. In order to broaden his horizons, he moved to Paris where he obtained a degree in film. In the following years he worked as a photo-journalist for Gamma press agency and several magazines. In film he started as a cameraman and director of photography on short-movies.
He also directed two documentaries, one during the Bosnian conflict “Born in Bosnia” for French TV, and the other on Cuba “Lettre de Cuba”, winner of the French prize “Rouletabille 95”. In 1995, thanks to a grant from the French Ministry of Youth, he established his own film production company “Odissea”.
In 1997 he co-produced and directed “One Girl Against the Mafia” a documentary which won 22 international prizes, and was broadcasted by 30 TV stations. Since 1991 he lives between Paris, Rome and Palermo.
In 2005 He directed the documentary film “The Last Godfather”, an Italian-French co-production with Mediterranea film and ARTE France, broadcasted in Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland and many other countries.
In 2006 He directed the feature length docu-fiction for theatrical distribution “The Ghost of Corleone”, a co-production with ARD-Germany, broadcasted also by RAI and SKY Italy.
The movie was nominated for the “Italian Golden Globes” 2006 and “Nastri d’Argento” 2007 as best documentary. The movie has been selected by the most important international film festivals (Syracuse FF, Chicago FF, Pyongyang FF, etc).
Link Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/106922340
In 2008 He co-wrote, with Sergio Donati, and directed his first feature film “The Sicilian Girl”. The movie is a co production between Italy (Eurofilm, R&C e Rai Cinema) and
French (Roissy Film).
The main actors of the movie are Gerard Jugnot (Les Choristes) and Veronica d’Agostino (Respiro).
The movie was in competition at Rome Film Festival and was very well received by critics and audience. “The Sicilian Girl” had been released in USA, Australia, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Israel. China, etc.
The movie was nominated at David Donatello as “Best New Director for his first feature film” and as “Best movie for students” and It was nominated at Nastri D’Argento as “Best New Director”. “The Sicilian Girl” has won over 30 international prizes and was selected by 22 international film festival.
“The Sicilian Girl” was selected at Durban Film festival (2009) and Norwegian Film festival (2009), Palm Spring Film Festival (2010). Also it was selected to represent the Italian cinema at “Italian-Tokio Film Festival” and OpenRoad Film Festival in New York, N.I.C.E. Seattle and San Francisco FF.
Link Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/75942426
In 2012 Marco Amenta wrote “THE BANKER” a feature film based on the Peace Nobel prize Muhammad Yunus’ autobiography. The script was awarded at Tribeca Film festival as “Best Screenplay
In 2014 Marco Amenta directed “BERLUSCONI, LE ROI SILVIO” The documentary film tells the story of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The movie was produced by France 5, Opera Film (France) and Eurofilm (Italy). The documentary film was broadcasted in prime time by France 5 on April 2014 and it was out of competition at FIGRA Festival International du Grand Reportage d'Actualité.
In 2017 Marco Amenta directed MAGIC ISLAND, a documentary film about the Sicilian Journey of an American guy. The movie was selected at HOT DOCS. The movie was nominated at DAVID DONATELLO and NASTRI D’ARGENTO as “Best documentary film”.
Link Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/172440834
pw: magicisland
In 2018 Amenta shoot THE LONE GIRL. The movie is in postproduction.
Link Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/277280020
pw: butteri
THROUGH THE WAVES is a largely pictorial and visual movie conceived for a diverse audience in terms of taste, culture and country. The film possesses a strong pictorial disposition where every single scene is treated in the manner of a painting. A tableau vivant of sorts that uses light and shadow, watercolor shades and the framing choices to narrate the perpetual conflict between conscious and subconscious that are happening in the brain of the main character, SALVO.
LÉA, a product of this conflict, is thus often in the dark. She "lives" in the darker areas of the frame, always ready to appear as soon as a feeble source of light comes to bring her to light. This stylistic choice allows to narrate in a visual manner both the presence and absence of Lea's memory. In the reality, Salvo travels alone, but in his mind, he is together with his dead lover. The audience, unaware of the final revelation, sees through the lense of this visual treatment, this duality between presence and absence. The darker parts of the frame represent Salvo's subconscious and thus the part from which Lea emerges. The lighter part is his conscious part and his solitude as a man and as a traveller. But these two layers often blur, liquefy. A part of darkness flows in the lighter area of the picture and consequently in Salvo's mind, making it more confusing for the character (and for the audience) to see the boundaries between conscious and subconscious, rationality and madness, lucidity and hallucination.
An effect that will strengthen this directorial choice through which every frame can potentially be a pictorial representation will be the blurring of the sides of the frame and the use of patterns that will evoke watercolours. A sort of "notice" to the public telling them that they are entering a fable, a dark fairy tale with a blurry outline in which nothing is what it seems.