“I have no future, so why would I care for the past that brought me to this sad, helpless point?”The lives of many characters, like Vicky, Sophie, Mark and other people from different backgrounds are interconnected and intertwined in a fascinating story, told in a unique sequence of pictures, dialogues, contrast and movement, from the movie ‘Anno 2020’.
Like the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly, undergoing a deep and painful metamorphosis inside the chrysalis, when it seems there is no future, so we the humans go into tough challenges, to find redemption, healing and self-acceptance. This is the main underlying message of this story, seen from the eyes of different people riding the waves of personal challenges in a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences during one of the most difficult times of the postmodern history: Covid-19 pandemic.
The value of this movie is the unique approach of the director/writer and the producer. The film was shot in 17 cities across five countries on four continents, during the restrictions of movement and travel from the pandemic. The amalgam of stories, people, places, camera angels was the special formula created by the producer Gil Ben-Moshe and writer/director James Morcan. ‘Anno 2020’ is based on the novel with the same title, written by Morcan, since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the director, the movie reflected a “multicultural kaleidoscope” of experiences. “It’s a vignette film, a rare type of movie where there are various plots instead of just one”, said Morcan.
What makes a good movie? The ‘conaisseurs’ of the films say: script, characters, acting, timing, visuals, sound; I would add to the list, the way it makes me feel, the underlying messages, the human dimension. The audience can find at ‘Anno 2020’ what is expected from a good movie: touching personal stories, that interconnect with each-other, big themes (like anti-Semitism, the pandemic, etc) treated with a plausible realism, interesting and complex characters, professional acting, never done before shooting technology and capturing news angels involved.
Now in post-production, ‘Anno 2020’ has required the employment of camera crews and cast around the world, it features dialogues in English, Hebrew, Mandarin and Italian, and it includes an award-winning team of international actors. The cast encompasses leading Australians Greg Poppleton (Backtrack, The Chronicles of Narnia), Erin Connor (Occupation: Rainfall, Dino King 3D), and US actors Kevin Scott Allen (Star Trek, Alias, Prison Break) and Sheila Ball (Assault on VA-33).
This promising movie is planned to be screened at mainstream film festivals around the world including Toronto and Venice before receiving a cinematic release in Australia later this year, followed by an online distribution on major streaming services.
Dr. Joana Kosho
Anno 2020, the novel, was published in October 2020 by Sterling Gate Books.
Anno 2020 film industry site link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13455748/
