Directed by Alessandro Focareta
Dominican Republic, Italy
Production: Apolide Film, Atacama Film
Supported by: Torino Piemonte Film Commission
Status: In Post-Production

Il Padre del Deserto is a film essay that explores grief, memory and the fragile bond between father and son. Following his mother’s death, Alessandro journeys through the Atacama Desert and the Argentine Puna, searching for a landscape in which to process his loss. Abandoned mines, forgotten cemeteries and plastic flowers become traces connecting the desert to the depopulated villages of his homeland in southern Italy. Through the dialogue between these distant territories, the film reveals the hidden sensitivity of his elderly father and the wounds of a fading world. A journey of inner transformation, in which distance becomes a bridge between generations and what remains after loss.