Guy Arie Friedman, a student of RUFA – Rome University of Fine Arts, is the author of one of the finalist projects of the GTA Contest ” The Great Woman Francesca “.
Francesca is eighteen years old and feels she has reached her limit. Everything around her is falling apart, things are getting out of hand. She decides to run away to the forest near her hometown, determined to leave her old life behind.
Bobby, her boyfriend, tries to bring her back with kisses and promises of love, but Francesca firmly pushes him away with an old tree branch. Soon after, her parents also arrive, bringing with them food and objects from her childhood: loving attempts to bring her back, but she turns away from them as well.
A strong wind begins to blow. Leaves and fruit fall from the trees, and one of them hits her on the head. Francesca picks it up and eats it with joy. Intrigued, she looks for the tree from which it fell, touches its trunk, and notices that her handprint remains imprinted on the bark.
At night, she listens to the sounds of the forest and the breath of the wind. Fear creeps into her, but a gentle breeze calms her. Her tears are warm and light. For the first time, Francesca breathes together with the forest.
In the morning, walking among the trees, she notices that her handprint is repeated on many trunks. She realizes that the trees are communicating with each other, that they are listening, and that they have also heard her.
At that moment, Francesca realizes that she is not alone.
The work, along with the other GTA Contest finalist projects, will be on display at the Maxxi in Rome from Dec. 5 to 8 during the AFAM Grand Festival, the concluding event of the AFAM Grand Tour.
