Private Project

Three nights until tomorrow

White sand, turquoise blue water. For decades, a chemical plant has been discharging its wastewater into the sea, transforming the nearby landscape into a white paradise. A voice collects memories along the beach and records them on postcards. As the shadow of the factory grows longer and traces no longer fade, she questions the linearity of her own horizon. Slowly, a toxic scent spreads and she realizes that her image of paradise is contaminated. A whale becomes stranded.

  • Flavio Araujo
    Director
  • Flavio Araujo
    Writer
  • Filippo Bonacci
    Producer
  • Emily Jourdan
    Sound Design
  • Nimue
    Montage
  • Andrea Popović
    Voice over
  • Manuel Seiler
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 52 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 15, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Switzerland
  • Country of Filming:
    Italy
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Mini DV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Zurich University of Arts
Director Biography - Flavio Araujo

Flavio Araujo (*1999, Thun) is a Swiss-born artist with Brazilian roots. During his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts from 2019-2024, he became interested in the toxic relationship between humans and their vital environment. The extent to which the medium of film reflects this or can contribute to a rapprochement are questions that preoccupy him. In spring 2024 he will complete his Bachelor of the Arts with the film THREE NIGHTS UNTIL TOMORROW. He lives and works in Zurich.

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Director Statement

In August 2021, while traveling in Italy, I came across an exceptionally white beach. At first glance it was beautiful, but when I turned around I saw a large factory. In a later research I found out that the beach got its color artificially by the factory, which discharged its wastewater into the sea for decades.
This experience inspired me to make this movie. What is outside the beautiful postcard? What do we like to ignore? In five postcard greetings, a person recounts their experiences on this beach. These postcards are written over the course of her life and cover a time span of around 50 years. Her questions to the horizon, to death, to the sea. Are we connected to everything? It would be nice... In an essayistic way, this voiceover will be the thread to stitch together images and sounds of the beach into a fabric of codependence.

The horizon is also a metaphor for a change in the perception of time from a linear to a cyclical one. When we see the horizon on the beach, it looks like a straight line, but when we try to see the big picture (circular areas, ecosystems, etc.) then this line turns out to be a circle. The film returns to this image again and again. Between the postcard texts, images of horizons at different times of day and light moods are shown.
In view of the climate crisis and an exploitative relationship with nature, we have reached a point where we can redefine our image of humanity and learn to appreciate our dependence on nature rather than striving for its independence. I believe that through their work, filmmakers and artists have an opportunity to reproduce the status quo of our human-centered worldview or to imagine new forms of coexistence with other living beings. Away from a human-centered anthropocentrism, towards a holistic physiocentrism.
We (crew) try to create a sense of connection in co-production with the beach, the insects, the water, the driftwood etc. in the movie. Our ancestors are the foundation for our generation, just as we are the foundation for future generations. They will build their present on our layer of sand. Our influence does not begin with birth and end with death like something linear, it continues after death in the form of a different molecule composition when we decompose or cremate.