Sunday Short Films 1
![](https://hplfilmfestival.com/sites/default/files/styles/film_screenshot/adaptive-image/public/films/The%20Book%20in%20the%20House_Giovanni%20Di%20Nino%20Danilo%20Marabotto_screen3_24.png?itok=fZTXTq9k)
The Book in the House
A centuries-old forest, an archaic waterfall that could be anywhere and a mature man who, to escape the noise of civilization, look for a space for reflection in inaccessible places. In a house of apparently abandoned stone awaits him - as if he had an appointment - a homo selvaticus which, as readers of the original story recall (The Picture in the House, H. P. Lovecraft, 1920), will mark the most radical emotional turn of his life.
[excerpt from an article in il fatto quotidiano, translated from the original Italian]
This film was begun 35 years ago. In the spring of 1985, after having printed a working copy destined for editing, the production was interrupted and the material shot was lost. It was rediscovered in 2010 and with the help of some friends, a digital copy was made. In 2020, more scenes were shot and the film was finished.
Franco Leo is the extraordinary protagonist of the story, but time - 35 years of it - has become his stunt double, has carved out his face and entered the plot by moving the original script to another level.
The film is a journey through time also for Gianni Di Nino and Danilo Marabotto who wrote the screenplay, direction and photography: with this short they return for a moment to the cinema after a life spent on television. In fact, both began as cinematographers of the Rai headquarters in the Aosta Valley and both shot the first images of the film 35 years ago.
![](https://hplfilmfestival.com/sites/default/files/styles/film_screenshot/adaptive-image/public/films/The%20Altruist_Matt%20Smith_screen2_8.jpg?itok=Adarx0kp)
The Altruist
Two characters are forced to navigate a stark and brutal calculus in hunger, sex and death when routine facility maintenance veers wildly towards conflict and the instinct for self-preservation.