This is the story of a millenary tree, a resilient ambassador of Nature and a silent witness to History. Beneath its branches flow the lives of men and women, often unaware of how much their existence depends on its presence. This is the story of S’ozzastru and the generous, solid land that has nurtured it.
With this work, the talented Carolina Melis invites us to reflect on a profound theme that has accompanied humanity since the dawn of time. Only by rediscovering balance can we truly understand it.
Screenplay: Elisa Guidelli
Cinematography: Carolina Melis
Editing: Michela Bruno
Music: Sebastiano Dessanay, Claudia Aru
Cast: Claudia Aru
Producer: Nical Films
Distributor: Nical Films
Year: 2023
Duration: 8′
Carolina Melis was born in Cagliari in 1975. She studied Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in London, specializing in illustration and animation. In 2004, she worked as an art director for MTV Europe in London before beginning a career in film and advertising.
As a director at Nexus Productions in London, she created television commercials and print campaigns for clients such as Sony PSP, BBC, Microsoft, Vodafone, Prada, Barclays, Penguin, Chloé, and Fendi; a series of shorts for Discovery Channel; and music videos for Colleen, Metronomy, Four Tet, and Efterklang.
In 2010, she conceived and directed the visual identity, set design, and title sequence for the MTV New York reality show The Arrangement. Two years later, she moved to China to collaborate with the production company Pixomondo.
Her work in film began in 2005, when Channel 4 and the Arts Council commissioned her animated short As The Crow Flies. In 2012, she directed About Gardens, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund for Ham House and Garden (UK), and in 2013 she directed Le Fiamme di Nule, a hybrid animation/live-action project commissioned by the Ethnographic Institute of Sardinia.
In 2024, she directed the short film S’Ozzastru, produced with the support of ISRE, MIBAC, and the Sardegna Film Commission Foundation. The film was selected for Visioni Italiane 2024.
