Daniele is a young man from Sant’Erasmo, an island on the edges of the Venice Lagoon. He lives on his wits, isolated even from his peer group who are busy exploring an existence of pleasure-seeking expressed in the cult of the ‘barchino’ (motorboat). Daniele too dreams of a record-breaking barchino, one that will take him to the top of the leader board and help him win respect from the others. Violent and destined to failure, the tale of male initiation explodes, dragging the ghost city along on a psychedelic shipwreck.
Let film take you away and turn you on your head!
"Atlantide is a film that began without a screenplay. The story developed over four years of observation following these young people, their dialogues are taken from their very real lives. This working method gave me the opportunity to go beyond the limits of traditional film design: where first there is writing and then shooting. This way, the film was on hand to record a moment of great change for Venice and her lagoon, from an almost undetectable perspective, one attuned to the outlook of these adolescents." (Yuri Ancarani)