Michela de Mattei and Invernomuto’s film project, created for the Thinking Like a Mountain program and produced by GAMeC, ventures through the landscapes of the Lombardy Alps to explore the return of the wolf to the valleys of Bergamo, analyzing the figure of this predator as a symbol of conflict, marvel, and transformation, while at the same time problematizing the coexistence between human beings and the wilderness.
Paraflu alludes to the tales of the philosopher and naturalist Baptiste Morizot, in which he describes the animal as possessing the magical art of misdirection. The result is a layered work, where images, optical illusions, and fragmented narrative editing create a disorienting universe, in which spectators are invited to address their own imagination.
Disorientation emerges in the film, in a territory where collective fears and cultural and human dynamics clash with those of nature, just as violently. The very title of the film harks back to a real-life episode: an act of revenge against a pack of wolves, poisoned with car radiator antifreeze (“Paraflu”).
Suspended between documentary and abstract representation, Paraflu reveals at the same time a fascination with the wolf, a desire to understand its habits and behavior, to map specimens and packs through the technique of “wolf howling,” setting photo-traps and other means to testify as much to an aspect of scientific research as to the human attempt to control and cohabitate with the wild.
Shot on 16 mm film to provide a physical and timeless aesthetic, the film combines real elements with AI-generated effects to amplify the sense of tension and narrative ambiguity. The narration is accompanied by a voiceover that, with a documentary tone, describes magic techniques, analyzing the relationship between the spectator and the conjurer. The result is a layered experience that deliberately misleads and confuses, creating a plot that continually defies linearity and expectations.
Paraflu, together with MUT by Giulio Squillacciotti, and Migratori by Agnese Galiotto, will be presented as part of a tour—held in collaboration with Lab 80 film—which will travel around the Bergamo valleys from February to May 2025, accompanied by a series of workshops, meetings, and events for adults and families alike.
Screening Calendar:
February 23 / Branzi, Val Brembana
MUT by Giulio Squillacciotti
March 15 / Gorno, Val del Riso
Screening of all three films
April 5 / Vedeseta, Val Taleggio
Screening of all three films
May 11 / Averara, Val Brembana
Migratori by Agnese Galiotto
May 18 / Gromo, Val Seriana
Paraflu by Michela de Mattei & Invernomuto
Throughout the third cycle of Thinking Like a Mountain, the spaces of GAMeC will host a series of conversations with artists Michela de Mattei and Invernomuto, as well as Agnese Galiotto and Giulio Squillacciotti. Conceived as an open dialogue between disciplines, these meetings will also feature speakers from a range of fields: from design to illusionism to ornithology. The intent is to explore how seemingly distant languages may come together in a common reflection on the relationship between human beings and other living species.
The calendar of events will soon be made available from gamec.it.
Biographical Notes
Michela de Mattei (Rome, 1984) is currently based in Milan. She works across different formats and media, often developing fictional scenarios and unusual ecosystems in which animal-human affairs are hijacked by technologies. In doing so, her works question standards of authority and control, speaking to issues of animal agency and the changing dynamics of communication systems.
Recent exhibitions include: Belmacz, London (2024); MACRO, Rome (2024); Porto Design Biennale, Porto (2023); MAXXI L’Aquila (2022); MAAT, Lisbon (2021); Alserkal Avenue, Dubai (2019); Belmacz, London (2019); ICI, London (2018); Serpentines Galleries / ZSL London Zoo (2018); and the Swiss Institute, Rome (2017).
Invernomuto is the name under which Simone Bertuzzi (Piacenza, 1983) and Simone Trabucchi (Piacenza, 1982) have worked together since 2003. Based in Milan, they develop long-term research projects that unfold across time and space, generating interconnected cycles of work. On a common theoretical basis, Invernomuto tends to think in an open and rhizomatic manner, developing different outputs that take the form of moving images, sounds, performative actions, and publishing projects, within the framework of a practice defined by the use—both diffuse and precise—of different various media. Both artists also develop individual lines of research through their musical projects: Palm Wine and STILL.
Recent shows include ECHOES, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2025); Panorama Monferrato, Castagnole (AT); Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich (2024); Pinksummer, Genoa (2023). Their work has been presented at Bourse de Commerce, Paris (2024); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; MACRO, Rome (2022); Liverpool Biennial 2021 (2021), Galleria Nazionale, Rome; 58th Venice Biennale (2019); Tate, London; and Manifesta 12, Palermo (2018).
