Falling

Falling. Congo and The Fallen Oak

The ongoing interest of filmmaker Cecilia Zoppelletto in rescuing the film archives in the Democratic Republic of Congo led her to make this experimental short film with a marked environmental print.

While showing old film footage where we see images of the nature of the Congo, an actress recites the poem The Fallen Oak, written by the poet Giovanni Pascoli's in 1907.

"The little nests of springtime now depend from limbs that used to rise to a safer height" reads one of the poem's passages. Zoppelletto invokes Pascoli's work to make us reflect on the devastating relationship between human beings and nature.

Through a daring juxtaposition of resources and eras, this short film emerges as a valuable exercise in conveying a powerful contemporary message with traditional cinematic tools.