Craftsmen of Cannaregio.

Beyond the tourist-centric layer of Venice exists a world of small retail and workshops that provide goods and services to the local population. Seemingly clustered in a small part of Cannaregio, these craftsmen and shopkeepers belong to a steadily shrinking group of dying trades. While it’s rather exceptional that they still exist in a world of online shopping and superstores, it brings to question whether it’s the urban condition or the dreamlike setting of Venice that retains them.

Having had the pleasure to spend some time with them and linger around their spaces of work, I’ve made an effort to build familiarity and trust between me, the observer, and them, the observed. Attempting to venture beyond the superficial, I’ve accepted the limits posed to a relationship between two complete strangers. I’ve also welcomed the ambiguity it creates between the real person and the character acted out for the benefit of the camera. This film is a result of this tension—both mine and theirs, between the familiar and the strange, in an attempt to trace the possibility of human connection.