Who Was He
Gabriel, an American pilot in the United States Navy, dreams every night of a parallel life that does not belong to him. He will then be enlisted in a secret mission in Italy (during the Anzio landing) to destroy documents related to German V-weapons and bring back to his homeland a fighter plane requisitioned by the enemies of his country. After the mission, he will realize that his destiny is much greater than everything else. How did this project come about? I became a father just two and a half years ago, and I started to believe in reincarnation and past lives thanks to my son Gabriele. From the very beginning, he gave me signals that I could not explain in any other way: until the age of two, he had never seen any kind of movie, TV show, cartoon, or screen, and he had no knowledge of the world of aviation, war, or soldiers. Yet, even at just one year old, he was extremely excited at the sight of anything resembling an airplane, particularly propellers, including that of the household fan. When he then saw, by pure chance, his first propeller plane, he literally went wild with joy! Seeing this "innate" passion, I decided to take him to the Aviation Museum in Bracciano, where he entered the cockpit of a plane/simulator and, having never seen one in his life, started the engine with one hand, pushed the throttle "full forward" with the other hand, and pulled the control stick towards him, all at just one year old! The instructor present was astonished and asked who had taught him the entire procedure for starting a plane at such a young age. The astonishment became even more evident when I told him that it was his first time interacting with the world of airplanes and that no one had ever taught him anything about it, least of all me. From that moment on, he began to be passionate about soldiers, airplanes, weapons, and everything related to the military world, especially concerning World War II. I should specify that none of us in the family are passionate about such subjects. When he turned one and a half, I gifted him a book depicting all the airplanes of World War II, and he reacted with more than enthusiasm, always focusing solely on one airplane, dismissing all the others, namely the American "Corsair F4U," the plane that allowed all young American pilots to win the war. Thus, with my imagination, I began to fantasize that in another life he might have been an American pilot, and I wrote this screenplay based on that idea. In simple terms, this film tells my idea of my son Gabriele's past life and is dedicated to the journey his soul is undergoing through various reincarnations. This project was realized completely independently; this means there is no production behind it, no money, and no budget! No crew involved was paid, not even the professionals! It started as an educational project with no profit motive! I personally spent about 1000 euros on props, costumes, and scenic materials; being a war film, that was the bare minimum necessary. Moreover, it was filmed without a crew! Well, yes, in some scenes I had help from my collaborators, but in others, I found myself filming with the other actor and the camera on a tripod, with no one else around. I strongly believe in independent cinema and am increasingly convinced that enjoying a cinematic work of entertainment does not require spending millions of euros on it. Enjoy the show!
- Runtime
- 58m
- Released
- 2025
Details
Release year: 2025
Storyline
Gabriel, an American pilot in the United States Navy, dreams every night of a parallel life that does not belong to him. He will then be enlisted in a secret mission in Italy (during the Anzio landing) to destroy documents related to German V-weapons and bring back to his homeland a fighter plane requisitioned by the enemies of his country. After the mission, he will realize that his destiny is much greater than everything else. How did this project come about? I became a father just two and a half years ago, and I started to believe in reincarnation and past lives thanks to my son Gabriele. From the very beginning, he gave me signals that I could not explain in any other way: until the age of two, he had never seen any kind of movie, TV show, cartoon, or screen, and he had no knowledge of the world of aviation, war, or soldiers. Yet, even at just one year old, he was extremely excited at the sight of anything resembling an airplane, particularly propellers, including that of the household fan. When he then saw, by pure chance, his first propeller plane, he literally went wild with joy! Seeing this "innate" passion, I decided to take him to the Aviation Museum in Bracciano, where he entered the cockpit of a plane/simulator and, having never seen one in his life, started the engine with one hand, pushed the throttle "full forward" with the other hand, and pulled the control stick towards him, all at just one year old! The instructor present was astonished and asked who had taught him the entire procedure for starting a plane at such a young age. The astonishment became even more evident when I told him that it was his first time interacting with the world of airplanes and that no one had ever taught him anything about it, least of all me. From that moment on, he began to be passionate about soldiers, airplanes, weapons, and everything related to the military world, especially concerning World War II. I should specify that none of us in the family are passionate about such subjects. When he turned one and a half, I gifted him a book depicting all the airplanes of World War II, and he reacted with more than enthusiasm, always focusing solely on one airplane, dismissing all the others, namely the American "Corsair F4U," the plane that allowed all young American pilots to win the war. Thus, with my imagination, I began to fantasize that in another life he might have been an American pilot, and I wrote this screenplay based on that idea. In simple terms, this film tells my idea of my son Gabriele's past life and is dedicated to the journey his soul is undergoing through various reincarnations. This project was realized completely independently; this means there is no production behind it, no money, and no budget! No crew involved was paid, not even the professionals! It started as an educational project with no profit motive! I personally spent about 1000 euros on props, costumes, and scenic materials; being a war film, that was the bare minimum necessary. Moreover, it was filmed without a crew! Well, yes, in some scenes I had help from my collaborators, but in others, I found myself filming with the other actor and the camera on a tripod, with no one else around. I strongly believe in independent cinema and am increasingly convinced that enjoying a cinematic work of entertainment does not require spending millions of euros on it. Enjoy the show!