THE AQUARIUM

L'ACQUARIO

Short, Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Italy

2024

Runtime, min

Vincenzo is on his first date with Sara, he asks for help from an application based on AI, which suggests what to say. A love story is born and they organize a blind date for their best friends, advising them both to use AI.

Director:

Gianluca Zonta

Selections and Awards:

Cortinametraggio Cortina d'Ampezzo March 13, 2024 World Premiere Premio delle Giuria Tecnica, Premio del Pubblico Italy KinoFilm Festival Manchester May 17, 2024 European Premiere Best European Short United Kingdom Officine Social Movie Arezzo May 23, 2024 Premio del Pubblico Italy Settimo Senso International Film Festival Pescara May 25, 2024 Miglior Corto Italiano Italy Dea Open Air International Film Festival Tirana June 12, 2024 Albanian Premiere Media Jury Award Albania Fantasy Day Film Festival San Giorgio a Cremano (NA) June 14, 2024 Jury Prize Italy Bardolino Film Festival Bardolino (VR) June 19, 2024 Official Selection Italy Cinestesia Legnano (MI) June 23, 2024 Audience Award Italy BCT - FESTIVAL BENEVENTO CINEMA E TELEVISIONE Benevento June 26, 2024 Official Selection Italy Corto in Corte Clusone (BG) July 4, 2024 Best Short Italy Guayaquil International Comedy Film Festival Guayaquil July 5, 2024 South America Premiere Official Selection Ecuador ICFF - Italian Contemporary Film Festival Toronto July 9, 2024 North America Premiere Official Selection Canada Comedy Film Fest Manduria July 11, 2024 Official Selection Italy Festival Aquicorto L'Aquila July 25, 2024 Best Italian Short Italy Saturnia Film Festival Saturnia July 31, 2024 Official Selection Italy Inventa Un Film Lenola July 31, 2024 Best Screenplay, Best Important Message Italy Premio Atena Nike Tinderi August 5, 2024 Special Mention "Moscerine Film Festival" Italy Corto di Sera Messina August 5, 2024 Official Selection Italy Calvi Festival Calvi August 6, 2024 Audience Award Italy Corto Fiction Chianciano Terme August 23, 2024 Best Social Theme Award, Audience Award Italy Taurasi Film Festival Taurasi August 24, 2024 Critics' Award Italy Villammare Festival Film&Friends Salerno August 25, 2024 Third Place Italy Festival de cine Ponme un corto Huerta de Rey August 31, 2024 Best Screenplay Spain Latina scalo in corto Latina August 31, 2024 Best Short Italy Festival Internacional de cine Sendependa Valencia September 8, 2024 Official Selection Spain Film Festival Pino Scicolone Cefalù September 9, 2024 Best Actress Italy Corti in Cortile Catania September 15, 2024 Audience Award Italy Procida Film Festival Procida September 18, 2024 Best Short Italy Flaminio Film Festival Roma September 23, 2024 Best Director Italy I corti dei fabbri Trieste September 28, 2024 Best Short, Audience Award Italy B.A. Film Festival Busto Arsizio September 28, 2024 Official Selection Italy San Diego Italian Film Festival San Diego October 1, 2024 Official Selection United States Sedici Corto Forlì October 6, 2024 Official Selection Italy Cecinema Cecina October 20, 2024 Honorable Mention Italy Festival del Cinema di Castel volturno Napoli October 23, 2024 Official Selection Italy CineOFF Jesi October 23, 2024 Best National Short Italy Alessandria Film Festival Alessandria October 27, 2024 Official Selection Italy Inferenze Film Festival Napoli October 26, 2024 Best Short, Audience Award Italy Tuscania in Corto Viterbo October 26, 2024 Critics' Award Italy Gaiaitaliapuntocom Film Fest Genova October 30, 2024 Best cultural project Italy Aaretaler Kurzfilmtage Berna November 8, 2024 Audience Award Switzerland Punto di Vista Film Festival Cagliari November 8, 2024 Official Selection Italy IL Film Festival London November 15, 2024 Audience Award United Kingdom Visioni Italiane Bologna November 16, 2024 Best Emilia-Romagna Production Italy accordi @ disaccordi - Int.Short Film Festival Napoli November 16, 2024 Official Selection Italy Castellinaria Bellinzona November 17, 2024 Out of competition Swaziland Fantasticon Film Fest Rho November 23, 2024 Official Selection Italy Foggia Film Festival Foggia December 23, 2024 Out of competition Italy Via dei Corti Gravina di Catania November 29, 2024 Official Selection Italy CortiSonanti Napoli November 29, 2024 Best Screenplay Italy AMARCORT Rimini December 5, 2024 Best national short Italy Batman Kısa Film Günleri Batman December 7, 2024 Official Selection Turkey Fabriano Film Fest Fabriano December 10, 2024 Official Selection Italy Comedy Film Festival - Festival della commedia Pulcinella Napoli December 10, 2024 Official Selection Italy Festival La Mirada Tabú Saragozza December 11, 2024 Official Selection Spain CORTODino Film Festival Torre Annunziata December 12, 2024 Best Short Over Italy Short Film Day Mosca December 14, 2024 Official Selection Russian Federation Clint Setubal December 14, 2024 Official Selection Portugal COLiseum International Film FEstival Roma December 17, 2024 Best Actor Italy Caserta Film Festival Caserta December 19, 2024 Best Screenplay Italy

REVIEWS:

The blue lighting in the restaurant creates that very aquarium feeling the characters talk about. It visually supports the metaphor of a confined space where we all swim.

Andres Martinez Hernandez

Very cute and stylishly shot.

Pia Luiz

The film brilliantly shows the homogenization of thought. The Chat-AIT app has 1.7 billion users , and if they all ask for love advice, we get a world of clones. The final scene where they speak in unison is a scary metaphor. We really are fish in an aquarium, fed by the same neural network.

Charlotte Young

A modern adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac! Only instead of a big-nosed poet in the bushes, we now have a smartphone under the table. It's sad that Vincenzo thinks his real personality of a rugby lover isn't worthy of Sara . We are so afraid of being ourselves that we trust an algorithm more than our hearts.

Leon Bokhari

Gianluca Zonta built an excellent parallel structure. The first couple is the success of mimicry, the second is the total failure of the same strategy. The dialogues are wittily written, especially the moments when the AI advises to encourage her ideas even if they are weird. This is a situational comedy for the new digital age.

Grigory Kopic

If you need an app to talk to a girl, you're not ready for a relationship.

Ava Wright

I was crying with laughter during the second date scene. That feeling when your date is spouting some pseudo-intellectual nonsense is painfully familiar. Marco, who calls the girl's monologue a new age bullshit, is my hero!

Benjamin Nguyen

This is the funniest bug in the dating Matrix. The writers perfectly captured the essence of LLM models: they churn out average, banal answers. It's a verdict on our laziness. Prompt engineering is a skill, guys!

Álvaro Layouni