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World Premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival Venetian Nights – Giornate degli Autori in agreement with Isola Edipo

Set among the pine forests and swamps of East Texas, LIFE BEYOND THE PINE CURTAIN – AMERICA THE INVISIBLE is a poetic and intimate reflection on an hidden America, that follows the lives of four marginalized individuals.

A powerful, collective story narrated through the voice and words of acclaimed author Joe R. Lansdale, a native of the very region the film explores.

Set in the thick pine forests and marshlands of East Texas, LIFE BEYOND THE PINE CURTAIN – AMERICA THE INVISIBLE embraces the language of Cinéma du Réel and is an intimate, poetic reflection on the hidden side of America, as told by the lives of four people on the margins, each very different, one from the other, but all united by the deep relationship they have with the land, between the towns of Gladewater, Longview and Kilgore.

It explores America, beyond its stereotypes, and shows it in all its complexity through the voice and words of writer Joe R. Lansdale, a profound, iconic voice in contemporary American literature, a native from places able to interpret the profound reasons behind a complex reality, and provide an original portrait of contemporary America. Using a powerful, immersive visual style, Giovanni Troilo’s work is both a social document and a lyrical tale, capable of shedding light on human geography, which rarely finds a place at the cinema.

⁠Tristan and Shannon are a couple who have chosen to raise their six children away from the conventional school system. They are a lively family, where the eccentric personalities of the children are revealed through music, religion and home schooling. A miniature community that, in its own way, reflects the tensions and ideals of deepest America. Kord, who is little more than a teenager, works with his family in oil rig maintenance, while in his spare time he goes hunting in the vast East Texas pine forests, where the rhythmic throbbing work of the old oil wells breaks the blatant silence. This coming of age portrait ends with the start of the elections that saw Kord’s first run for president. Charlie “Snow Balls”, with his original traveling store and truck where he manages to sell slushies and artificial tans at the same time, has a symbiotic relationship with his father John. The tender bond between them, and their slow wandering from one event to another, also becomes a vehicle for articulate storytelling about the community. Finally, we have Lois who is the living memory of Gladewater. Elderly, energetic and untiring, she runs the local chamber of commerce with the flair of a theatrical impresario, holding together the threads of a community that finds its identity in shared rituals, markets, parades, religious and civil festivals.

The feature film spans the time leading up to and following the November 5^th, 2024 presidential elections. The characters vote, everyone participates – but the whole point of the political event remains distant, almost foreign to the actual substance of their days. American democracy, in the heart of this province, is a ritual shadow that slips away leaving no trace. After what was the widely expected outcome in this part of the world, life resumes without any major surprises, and attention shifts to Christmas decorations and preparations for local celebrations.

In the words of Giovanni Troilo: “Clichés are an inexhaustible source for the collective imagination. Behind the reassuring, well-defined image given to the general public, reality often holds amazing surprises for those fortunate enough to really immerse themselves in a given context, especially when it comes to places far from the spotlight in the world of performance. All of this was made possible by the exclusive access given to us by Joe R. Lansdale, a native of the area and author of numerous novels set in this part of the world. This opportunity also came about as a result of the sincere, profound will to share shown by the people who opened the doors of their lives to us.  Visually, the film builds a narrative of details, interruptions and silences. The images of the forest, of the swamps, of these small urban areas, show us an America beyond the limits of time, where there are still traces of the industrial past, and nature always seems on the verge of taking it all back. The landscape itself is a living archive: exhausted oil wells, stagnant lagoons, pine forests planted a century ago are still there, immobile, as are certain habits, certain dreams, and certain types of solitude. Life Beyond the Pine Curtain – America the Invisible doesn’t try to explain or simplify. It doesn’t take sides either for or against. It withdraws into listening mode. It is a poetic, film attempt, through the lens of micro-stories and individual sensitivity, to view an aspect of America that cannot be seen, but does exist.”