parapluie Pictures is a production company founded in 2012 by Gianluca Monnier, following a long career in television, particularly with RSI–Swiss Broadcasting. It specializes in producing documentaries—both for television and cinema—as well as investigative journalistic reports. The company, based in Minusio near Locarno (home to the namesake Film Festival) in Switzerland, also produces all the artistic videos of the duo parapluie, made up of Andrée Julikà Tavares and Gianluca Monnier.
In its film and documentary work, the company seeks a personal gaze, a poetic and individual vision in its portrayal of reality.
In production
Steel Love
cinema documentary, project developed in the framework of EURODOC 22 // Current production stage: end of development / pre-production
Written & directed: Gianluca Monnier // treatment supervisor: Dario D’Amato // DOP: Andrea Caccia //
production: Nicola Bernasconi, ROUGH CAT (CH) // co-production: RSI Radiotelevisone svizzera (CH) // Sebastiano Luca Insinga, Jump Cut (IT), Gianluca Monnier, parapluie pictues (CH)
Synopsis
In Steel Love, Gianluca Monnier returns to Terni, the "Steel City" and "City of Saint Valentine," to scatter his mother's ashes and uncover family secrets that have been hidden for 50 years. Through his research for the film and encounters with relatives and local characters, Gianluca reveals profound truths that intertwine his personal identity with the historical transformation of Terni. The city, a symbol of strength and love, has shaped not only the landscape but also the lives of its inhabitants, erasing ancient traces to make way for the steel industry. Steel Love explores the delicate balance between the search for truth and the need for love, delving into the collective memory and the soul of a place marked by steel.
K
experimental short film
Written & directed by Gianluca Monnier
Synopsis
At the base of Kaliberg, an artificial salt mountain in Germany created from potash extraction residues, a man and a woman engage in an intimate and philosophical encounter. This human-shaped landscape, rich with ecological memory, serves as the backdrop for their exploration of life's transience. She, a photographer, captures fleeting moments, while he, a filmmaker, contemplates the essence of representation. Through a blend of voice-over reflections and emotional fragments, they navigate the grief of losing their child. K delves into themes of time, memory, and identity, inviting audiences to reflect on the fragile balance between permanence and loss.
In development
Nordwind
cinema documentary, project in development // supported by Fondo Film Plus Svizzera italiana + Ticino Film Commission + Swiss federale bureau of culture.
Written & directed: Gianluca Monnier and Andrée Julikà Tavares // production: parapluie pictures // © 2023
Synopsis
In Heligoland, a remote german archipelago in the North Sea full of history and contradictions, science and nature intertwine between past, present and future. As off-shore wind farms rise off the coast, threatening the migration of birds, ornithologists struggle to preserve the fragile balance between clean energy research and nature conservation. A poetic tale about the dichotomies of our time and the invisible interconnections that define our reality.
Realised
documentaries
Investigative journalism
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