SF ShortsGabriel Screened Oct. 23-25
“Will we be able to suspend our disbelief in real life to abandon loneliness?” – F3 Film Magazine
Gabriel Spain Narrative Film Website
Agatha is struck by her husband's death. She feels old and lonely, yet she starts to experience unexpected sexual desires that would lead her to buy the ultimate version of a male sex robot, Gabriel. Will she find happiness?
Agatha is struck by her husband's death. She feels old and lonely, yet she starts to experience unexpected sexual desires that would lead her to buy the ultimate version of a male sex robot, Gabriel. Will she find happiness?
DIRECTOR PROFILE
Pierfrancesco Artini
Director Bio : Pierfrancesco Artini is a film Director, Scriptwriter and Photographer with a BA in Contemporary Media Practice - London University of Westminster (2009-2012). In the past Pierfrancesco has worked in development at HeyDay Films and with acclaimed producer Rosie Alison. After a few years he got into an Italian production company working as a second and first Ad for Mediaset tv series. Pierfrancesco now lives in Madrid, Spain, where he launched a photography & film studio.
Director Statement : I really wanted to delve into three delicate matters such as sexuality and loneliness in elderly women and connect them with 2019's first creation of a male sex robot.
I was interested in the first topic because I think society is still convinced that only elderly men can have an active sexual life. If a woman does - she'd been seen almost as outcast . So I wanted to give life to a woman that - despite her own taboos - decides to act against her rationality to explore sexuality. GABRIEL, the charming neighbour that enjoyes to tease her, surely helps to arouse her hidden sexual desires. She craves those encounters at the window, they make her feel alive.
However, the characterisation of Ágatha goes well beyond that as it also interconnects with my second topic: loneliness. I wanted to portrait - through subtle Easter Eggs - a woman in an overwhelming grief and frustration. She feels empty as she realises that she'd dedicated her whole life looking after a paralysed partner - hence sacrificing her career and passions. And suddenly, she is left alone in a world that is only filled with sweet and sour memories. Hence her will to keep on living is just a very distant hope.
The third theme of the film - male sex robots - it's a topic that I don't classify under the sci-fi genre. In fact, the first male sex robot was fabricated in the United States in 2019. The robot is already capable of talking and interacting - he can't move yet - but it really surprised me how robotics had been advancing over the last couple of years, especially in such an unexpected field. Yet, when the owner of the company was interviewed this year, he stated that there are many women that are buying (anonymously) sex robots; and this really got me thinking...
Gabriel's characterisation goes far beyond today's reality: It's a representation of an almost human-like robot. In fact, I was not interested in being faithful to nowadays technology. I was more fond to represent what - in a very near future - a male sex robot could look/act like. I hence deliberately trespassed today's timeline to reach an allegorical and atemporal space in order to raise questions such as; who are we to judge whether an elderly woman should or should not have sex? Could a sex robot make a human fall in love? And - If the answer is no - could a robot at least shelter a lonely, utterly depressed, person? In Agatha's case, the robot at the beginning is a very interesting and charming creature. She even names him GABRIEL, like the neighbour, as she finally can make her fantasies come true. Eventually, she'd realise how pathetic she is in believing that a robot could replace human's love. But she also realises that her life is just pointless living and that, at least, she can use the robot to commit suicide. I have always been fascinated by the classic topic of EROS and THANATHÓS, Love and Death. And Agatha chooses to take her own life while having pleasure.
Director Bio : Pierfrancesco Artini is a film Director, Scriptwriter and Photographer with a BA in Contemporary Media Practice - London University of Westminster (2009-2012). In the past Pierfrancesco has worked in development at HeyDay Films and with acclaimed producer Rosie Alison. After a few years he got into an Italian production company working as a second and first Ad for Mediaset tv series. Pierfrancesco now lives in Madrid, Spain, where he launched a photography & film studio.
Director Statement : I really wanted to delve into three delicate matters such as sexuality and loneliness in elderly women and connect them with 2019's first creation of a male sex robot.
I was interested in the first topic because I think society is still convinced that only elderly men can have an active sexual life. If a woman does - she'd been seen almost as outcast . So I wanted to give life to a woman that - despite her own taboos - decides to act against her rationality to explore sexuality. GABRIEL, the charming neighbour that enjoyes to tease her, surely helps to arouse her hidden sexual desires. She craves those encounters at the window, they make her feel alive.
However, the characterisation of Ágatha goes well beyond that as it also interconnects with my second topic: loneliness. I wanted to portrait - through subtle Easter Eggs - a woman in an overwhelming grief and frustration. She feels empty as she realises that she'd dedicated her whole life looking after a paralysed partner - hence sacrificing her career and passions. And suddenly, she is left alone in a world that is only filled with sweet and sour memories. Hence her will to keep on living is just a very distant hope.
The third theme of the film - male sex robots - it's a topic that I don't classify under the sci-fi genre. In fact, the first male sex robot was fabricated in the United States in 2019. The robot is already capable of talking and interacting - he can't move yet - but it really surprised me how robotics had been advancing over the last couple of years, especially in such an unexpected field. Yet, when the owner of the company was interviewed this year, he stated that there are many women that are buying (anonymously) sex robots; and this really got me thinking...
Gabriel's characterisation goes far beyond today's reality: It's a representation of an almost human-like robot. In fact, I was not interested in being faithful to nowadays technology. I was more fond to represent what - in a very near future - a male sex robot could look/act like. I hence deliberately trespassed today's timeline to reach an allegorical and atemporal space in order to raise questions such as; who are we to judge whether an elderly woman should or should not have sex? Could a sex robot make a human fall in love? And - If the answer is no - could a robot at least shelter a lonely, utterly depressed, person? In Agatha's case, the robot at the beginning is a very interesting and charming creature. She even names him GABRIEL, like the neighbour, as she finally can make her fantasies come true. Eventually, she'd realise how pathetic she is in believing that a robot could replace human's love. But she also realises that her life is just pointless living and that, at least, she can use the robot to commit suicide. I have always been fascinated by the classic topic of EROS and THANATHÓS, Love and Death. And Agatha chooses to take her own life while having pleasure.