Gioannin is a 6 year old child who lives in Italy at the beginning of the 1900. He dreams of his strong and wonderful father he never knew, missed at sea and never returned. He will discover that a dream is not worth what real life can naturally give, despite its difficulties and disappointments.
‘The king of the island’ is the second short film directed by Raimondo Della Calce and produced by artFive animation studio. The movie tells the story of Gioannin, a shy and lonely child, left no father because of a mishap occurred at sea years before. Gioannin is a kid, he doesn’t know the meaning of the word death. And if his father left and never returned, then it means that he must have stopped somewhere on an island, and with his extraordinary ability he must now be the king. From the exasperated dream of Gioannin comes the title of the movie, which goes back in time, in the early 1900’s Genoa, Italy, with its port at work, the alleys, the old pier and the famous lantern.
The film was financed by artFive with the intention to test the ability of the studio after the short film “Heterogenic” (2003) and the production of commercials and television series that have followed from 2004 to 2008. The whole production lasted 18 months. The idea behind the movie is to face a profound and universal issues as the relationship between father and son, in a setting of Mediterranean flavor, from the scenery to the music and atmospheres. The main meaning of the movie is that dreaming is something very important for each person, but having the courage to face the reality and appreciate it despite its difficulties and disappointments, that is true life.
