Producer
The desert is calling. Yet, it is with the ocean that Fabrizio Maltese’s journey begins. He has accepted Abderrahmane Sissako’s invitation to continue the film he and Pol Cruchten had initiated together. Pol has since passed away. The project he had been dreaming of has thus taken on a new, symbolic dimension. It must see the light of day. This is why Fabrizio has traveled on his own to meet with the Mauritanian director. But fate seems to have decided otherwise. From Saint Louis in Senegal to Nouakchott in Mauritania, from Mata Moulana to Chinguetti, Fabrizio allows himself to get lost alone in the desert, with nothing more than a few scribbled notes jotted down on the piece of paper that was given to him by the two filmmakers.
Cinematography
California Dreaming explores the unusual town of California City, the third largest city by area in the state of California, though only about 14,000 people live there. Grandiosely conceived in the 1950s as a new metropolis to rival Los Angeles, a mere two hours away, it is now a small town within a much larger ghost town in the desert. The film follows several locals, including Quebec-born blue-collar worker Jean-Paul LeBlanc, and explores how the American Dream has changed over time, drawing parallels between the American Dream of the 1960s, when the city was founded, and the dreams of those living there today.
