Camerimage
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
Montreal World Film Festival

One defining characteristic of our post-modern life is the drastic change of our ways of communication. In the last fifteen to twenty years, emails and text messages have cast aside letters as a preferred way of communicating with others. In Letters from the Desert, Michela Occhipinti shows life before the era of mass communication, a life in which communication was more personal than it is today. Set in a small Indian village, Occhipinti follows the life of a postman, who, on foot or by bike, delivers letters across the vast empty desert. In long patient takes, the director shows the beauty of the desert landscape as well as the nature of being a postman as a link between villagers. He is more than a postman, he is a valued member of the village, a friend. But as the first antennas appear in the desert, the man begins to wonder what will happen to his job.

Italy - 2010 - 1h 28m
Directed By: Michela Occhipinti
Written By: Michela Occhipinti, Simona Occhipinti