Beautiful Things (2017)

DESCRIPTION

A symphonic journey into our obsessive consumption

A hybrid documentary is structured in four parts: Oil, Cargo, Measure and Ash. Each act focuses on a worker in a distinct isolated environment: a maintenance man on US oilrigs; a Filipino in the bowels of a supertanker; an Italian scientist in his echo-free chamber (blocking out the sounds of the world); and finally, a waste plant operative. Creation, transport, marketing and destruction – it’s a global chain of obsessive consumption.

The many objects we accumulate begin their production journey in silent scheduled industrial site where bordeline men work in isolation without any interference. These men, unwittingly, provide the basis for the sequence of creation, transport, marketing and destruction of the objects.

They are monks in temples of concrete and carry out the same rituals in solitude.

GALLERY

REVIEWS

“Like any good symphonist, Ferrero knows the power of silence; the soundtrack makes room for dead spots that suggest a world scraped clean of all the clutter.”

– David Bordwell (Critic, Professor Emeritus of Film Studies)

“One of the best debuts of the last years.” 

– Nonsolocinema

“Beautiful Things is a spectacularly shot documentary with a fugue structure.”

– Glen Kenney, NY Times

DIRECTED BY
Giorgio Ferrero & Federico Biasin, Italy, 2017, 96 min.
Festivals
Venice Film Festival 2017; International Premiere: CPH:DOX, North American premiere: Open Roads Lincoln Center, San Francisco IDFF, Sydney IFF, Asian premiere: Taipei IFF – International New Talent Competition, New Horizons IFF, Doc Fest Prizren, DMZ DOCS South Korea, Annecy Cinema Italian, Sensoria Music FF, West Lake IDFF, Viennale, Kyoto Historical IFF, IN Edit, Leeds IFF, RIDM Montreal, DOKER Moscow, Docville, Millenium FF Brussels, Dokumenter Jakarta, World Filmfest Houston, Guelph IFF, HRFF Lugano, Green Film Festival Seoul, We are One – Online YouTube Festival
Awards
Venice Film Festival 2017 – Best Italian Film ARCA Jury (Jury under 26), CPH:DOX – NEXT: WAVE Award, Annecy Cinema Italian – Special Jury Award, DOKER Moscow – Best Sound, World Filmfest Houston – Best Music
TERRITORIES
World except of Italy
Sold to
Alexander Street, Under the Milky Way, Giloo, Portugal: Sorpasso
DIRECTORS BIO

Georgio Ferrero is a composer, director and photographer from Turin. He has composed and produced soundtracks of dozens of films, theatrical performances and installations. At the 74th Venice Film Festival he presented his first feature film ‘Beautiful Things’, for which he signed direction and music. In Venice he also presented his first short film in virtual reality Denoise made during the shooting of the feature film. With Federico Biasin and Rodolfo Mongitore he lead the multidisciplinary studio MYBOSSWAS in Turin.

Federico Biasin is a DOP, producer and film maker. Together with Giorgio Ferrero and Rodolfo Mongitore he run the multidisciplinary studio MYBOSSWAS. He has created visual and sound art installations for Bordeaux Biennal, MAXXI Museum, Lisbon Experiementa Design Biennal…He has realized graphic displays, photographic campaigns and commercials for brands like Condé Nast, Mondadori, Nike and Alfa Romeo.