Search

In November 2022, Andrea Gatopoulos and Antonio Morra depart to shoot A Stranger Quest, a documentary film on the map poem of David Rumsey, one of the most important collectors of historical maps in the world. After delving into the world of maps by inviting some of the world’s leading experts, they decide to explore the memories and places of David’s life. They leave with him on a journey across the North American landscape, from San Francisco to the Smoke Creek Desert up to MacKinnons Brook, in Nova Scotia. The film, as always happens, becomes something more than a film. The exploration of David’s life, a long accumulation of objects, buildings, relationships, spaces and time, begins to be reflected in the two authors of the book. Antonio, who had brought with him an analogue film camera, between one scene and another takes photographs of landscape and light, boundless spaces, wild animals curious towards man, endless forests, houses that look like leviathans asleep in an eternal geography. Andrea, on the other hand, writes his reflections: shooting a film ultimately means learning to watch from scratch every time and making your first feature film is a bit like becoming an adult, dealing with your own sense of being a man. The directions of their stories, one visual, one written, are gradually swallowed up by the cold desert of Nevada and the snowy forests of Nova Scotia. The American landscape begins to mock every sense of self, every selfishness, every idea, devouring speeches, ideas, images. Everything goes back to being just a fragment, a handkerchief of time and space. Human life, immersed in endless nothingness, reveals itself for what it is: a strange journey in time., ISBN 978-88-947953-0-1 © 2024 Andrea Gatopoulos, Antonio Morra © Il Varco Edizioni

Nel novembre 2022, Antonio Morra e Andrea Gatopoulos partono per girare A stranger quest, un film documentario sul poema di David Rumsey, uno dei più importanti collezionisti di mappe storiche al mondo. Lo seguono in un viaggio attraverso il continente nordamericano, da San Francisco alla Nova Scotia, immergendosi nei ricordi e nelle relazioni della sua vita. Nei momenti di pausa tra una scena e l’altra prendono appunti. Antonio scatta foto su pellicola in bianco e nero, Andrea scrive i suoi pensieri. Le direzioni delle loro storie, una visiva, una scritta, vengono gradualmente inghiottite dal freddo deserto del Nevada e dalle foreste innevate di MacKinnons Brook. Il panorama americano comincia a irridere ogni senso del sé, ogni egoismo, ogni idea, divorando discorsi, idee, immagini. Tutto torna ad essere solo un frammento, un fazzoletto di tempo e spazio dove la vita umana, immersa nel nulla sterminato, si rivela per quello che è: nient’altro che uno strano viaggio, uno spietato invito al mistero., ISBN 978-88-947953-0-1 © 2024 Andrea Gatopoulos, Antonio Morra © Il Varco Edizioni

The map is a collage of over 70 different maps taken from David Rumsey's Map Collection and it depicts a map of David himself. It is the official poster of the film "A Stranger Quest" which sees David as a protagonist.