BERLIN FASHION FILM FESTIVAL 2023

L'Essenziale, Welded Love Stories - Atelier VM
Alterazioni Video

Official Selection

Title of Piece:	L'Essenziale, Welded Love Stories
Brand:	Atelier VM
Production Company:	Alterazioni Video
Client:	Atelier VM
Director:	ALberto Caffarelli & Matteo Erenbourg
Instagram Tag:	#lessenzialeweldedlovestories
Short Synopsis:	L’Essenziale Welded Love Stories A film in five episodes by Alberto Caffarelli and Matteo Erenbourg produced by Atelier VM In 2014 Atelier VM created L'Essenziale, an innovative bracelet permanently and seamlessly welded on the body. To celebrate the most iconic and performative among their creations, the brand is commissioning artists to explore the stories and feelings behind the wide success of this thin golden thread. Their first collaboration with directors Alberto Caffarelli and Matteo Erenbourg, part of Alterazioni Video - a well known collective in the contemporary art world- brought to L'Essenziale Welded Love Stories, a film in five episodes. A direct homage to French director Jean Luc Godard who recently passed, the work reinterpretates cult scenes from his films. As we witness an act of love for the revolutionary cinema of the Nouvelle Vague, we find correspondences with those permanently wearing L'Essenziale, as their own, intimate, act of love. Through quotations, crossed references or borrowed techniques - the plots, the choice of interiors, the use of the handheld camera, natural light, non-professional actors and original music - the camera moves sensually around the protagonists. The mood alternates bohemian atmospheres, queer romanticism, family settings, unconventional beauty and elegance. Oscillating between seduction, nostalgia and irreverence, the film enhances love in all its forms. We see glimpses of L'Essenziale on the wrists of a grandmother and her granddaughter while they play with water or tenderly caress each other; in the arms of two friends (perhaps lovers?) as they relax on a rooftop; on a couple waking up in love each morning; on three bewildered friends at a cafe, and finally on a girl who lets herself go in a wild, liberating dance. Within an expanded temporality, a deliberately open narrative and the support of an original soundtrack, the film alludes to the meanings and impulses behind this special piece of jewelry. Common situations become extraordinary, reflecting the nature of a bracelet as simple as it is unique, created to honor the deepest ties among people. Whether it is a memory, a relationship, maternal love, friendship or the connection with oneself, the Essenziale marks a moment in time and extends it forever. A thin gold thread customized and seamlessly welded on - more than a piece of jewelry L'Essenziale is a gesture, a promise, a celebration of time shared. L'Essenziale Welded Love Stories through images and situations of apparent simplicity, interpretes this accessory, reminding us of what is necessary, indispensable, precisely (quint)essential.