The story is set in the fictional town of Disperata in Salento, the name of which was inspired by Depressa, a district of Tricase where the director is from. It is a place far from everything, which prides itself on the natural beauty that surrounds it, made up of boundless countryside, olive groves, dry-stone walls and trails leading to the sea, which some would like to see built over in the name of questionable progress.
The film was shot entirely in lower Salento, in the towns of Tiggiano, Corsano, Gagliano del Capo and Salve, in sunny and somewhat desolate piazzas and roads a few kilometres from the Adriatic Coast, which is full of jagged rocks at that point and offers, to anyone looking out over the coast between Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca, breathtaking views over a turquoise blue sea and, when the sky is clear, the mountains of nearby Albania.
The stretch of coastline between the Ciolo and Santa Maria di Leuca was the setting for one of the final scenes in the film, an aerial view of Angiolino, where the new director is about to film L’Arca di Disperata.
The story is set in the fictional town of Disperata in Salento, the name of which was inspired by Depressa, a district of Tricase where the director is from. It is a place far from everything, which prides itself on the natural beauty that surrounds it, made up of boundless countryside, olive groves, dry-stone walls and trails leading to the sea, which some would like to see built over in the name of questionable progress.
The film was shot entirely in lower Salento, in the towns of Tiggiano, Corsano, Gagliano del Capo and Salve, in sunny and somewhat desolate piazzas and roads a few kilometres from the Adriatic Coast, which is full of jagged rocks at that point and offers, to anyone looking out over the coast between Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca, breathtaking views over a turquoise blue sea and, when the sky is clear, the mountains of nearby Albania.
The stretch of coastline between the Ciolo and Santa Maria di Leuca was the setting for one of the final scenes in the film, an aerial view of Angiolino, where the new director is about to film L’Arca di Disperata.
Presented in the ‘Orizzonti’ section of the 74th Venice Film Festival, the film tells the story of the strange friendship between the mayor of Disperata, Filippo Pisanelli, and two brothers and formerly aspiring mafia bosses who have turned to poetry and the beauty of the Creation.