Now You See It
Date:
January 9, 2023
Now You See It
Now You See It
by Alessandro Leonardi
Open Citadel
Era Film
1st feature
Logline
Chasing a breakthrough that could reshape reality, a young physicist is pulled into the quantum unknown, where the price of understanding the universe is himself.
Synopsis
Marios is a 34-year-old physicist. He lives in Cyprus with his mother and a cat. Raised in a displaced family along the country’s “Green Line,” surrounded by bullet holes and checkpoints, Marios seeks comfort in the abstract realms of quantum theory to escape the reality of an increasingly dangerous world. Haunted by the ghosts of war and the uncertainties of a precarious research career, physics becomes a refuge for him. Yet his deep desire to make sense of the world leads him to question the very foundations of our existence.
Marios finally leaves his mother’s home after being called to the prestigious University of Vienna, where he will lead a research team in the very office once occupied by Erwin Schrödinger, the father of quantum physics. In a whirlwind of scattered equations, his research revolves around a centuries-old challenge: merging general relativity with quantum mechanics to explain the entire universe through a “theory of everything.” As he advances in his studies, he discovers that physics is not so much about objective facts as it is about how the world emerges from mysterious, uncertain, and random interactions. Unexpectedly, he finds himself at the center of a new scientific and technological revolution, destined to reshape humanity in unpredictable ways.
Marios begins working on a promising experiment inside a tunnel carved in the Alps, together with some of the brightest minds: Carlo Rovelli, his mentor; Francesca Vidotto, quantum cosmologist; Bob Coecke, the punk spirit behind the world’s most powerful quantum computer. But the experiment takes years, and the measurement instruments fail one after another. His confidence begins to crumble.
Guided by his deeply religious mother, Marios comes to terms with his fragile mind and surrenders to the wild, paradoxical beauty of the quantum world.
Director’s Profile
Alessandro Leonardi is an award-winning director who collaborates with major broadcasters like BBC, PBS and others. After graduating in Philosophy in his hometown of Milan, he moved to London, where he earned a MA in Documentary Practice. For a time, he took on different roles, from camera operator to editor in indie film productions, music videos, branded content, and commercials. Eventually, he decided to commit himself wholeheartedly to documentary filmmaking, and never looked back. His first documentary short “Generation In Transit” was broadcast by BBC Three. After Brexit, he moved to Berlin, where he became the author and cinematographer of numerous prime-time reportages for public channels like ARTE, ZDF and 3Sat. His works explore social phenomena such as the exodus of migrants through the Mediterranean sea (i.e. “Lampedusa und die Flüchtlinge” produced by Spiegel TV) and the resurgence of nationalisms in Europe (i.e. “Basta Europa”, candidate for Prix Europa 2020). Alessandro is a Logan Nonfiction fellow in New York thanks to his contribution as cinematographer and editor of the acclaimed documentary “The Lesson” by Elena Horn. His short documentary “Life and Death with a Coronavirus Ambulance Volunteer in Milan” was published by The Guardian. “Pizza, Democracy & The Little Prince” places Syrian children in charge of interviewing international students, revealing shared hopes, resilience, and humanity across the divides of culture and war.
In collaboration with the magazine NZZ, he develops and directs films for the German speaking world, like “Einsame Alpendörfer”, a 52min documentary about the depopulation of Alpine villages and “Wem gehören Strand und Ufer”, a journey along European lakes and coastlines, asking why our shared shores are increasingly being privatised.
Company Profile
Open Citadel Productions is a young, award-winning film company committed to creating compelling and thought-provoking documentaries that spark reflection, inspire social change, and deepen our understanding of the world. Its films (“The Lesson”, “Pizza, Democracy & the Little Prince”) have been selected and awarded at major international festivals and broadcast worldwide, reaching audiences across continents. Beyond the festival and broadcast circuit, Open Citadel’s work has a long-term presence in the educational sector, where its films are used in schools, universities, and cultural institutions as tools for learning, discussion, and critical engagement. They have also been screened at leading policy-making institutions, including the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Established in Vilnius in 2001 by the Lithuanian producer Rasa Miskinyte, ERA FILM is known for producing award winning international documentary films.
Recently ERA FILM entered a new era with an additional focus on animation, feature films, transmedia projects. ERA FILM focuses on creativity, strong stories with a human impact and a high level of execution. ERA FILM made films in co-production with France, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Spain and Italy. Have co-produced or cooperated with broadcasters as: RAI (Italy), MDR (Germany), NHK (Japan), TG4 (Ireland), BBC-NI (UK), AVRO (The Netherlands), YLE (Finland), TVP2 (Poland), Belsat TV (Poland/Belorusia), ERR (Estonia), DR (Denmark), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), TSR (Switzerland)