Experimental documentary about the Italian migrant Totó, who feels a great nostalgia for something he cannot name. Schreiner follows him to his Calabrian village of birth, looking for answers. In poetic black-and-white images of derelict houses, life around the sea and Totó’s intriguing old acquaintances.
Just as in earlier work, Peter Schreiner has also filmed this experimental documentary, about the intense homesickness of the migrant Antonio Cotroneo, in poetic, tightly framed black-and-white. The director makes optimal use of picture and sound (both recorded by himself) to make the struggle of his subject tangible. While Cotroneo has difficulty putting his thoughts into words, the camera zooms in on his face, especially on his deep black, continually roaming eyes, and every sigh, groan and breath is clearly audible.
Schreiner films him during his work in the box office at a Viennese concert hall and during his trips to his home village of Tropea, where everyone knows him as Totó. Schreiner is primarily interested in the Calabrian coastal village with its derelict houses, cliffs, beach, tourists and Totó’s intriguing old friends. Life in Vienna remains out of sight. The subject is, after all, Totó’s quest for what he really misses in life.