We Are Colony has released Giacomo Cimini’s ambitious, award-winning sci-fi short The Nostalgist starring Lambert Wilson (Of Gods and Men) and Samuel Joslin (The Impossible, Paddington).

Adapted from a story by Robopocalypse author Daniel H. Wilson, The Nostalgist is set in a futuristic world where humans use a system to recreate paradise around you, but a father’s device starts to fail and he has to face his own traumatic reality. (Trailer here).

“I got an email from filmmaker Giacomo Cimini saying that he had read the story on Tor.com,” Wilson says. “He sent me a link to one of his other short films, The City In The Sky; I watched it and was blown away. I emailed him right back to figure out a way to move forward. The script that he created was so well done that I just immediately realised that it was viable.”

Lambert Wilson said: “What attracted me to the script was that it was a science fiction, and as a short film that is an amazing challenge. And I loved the story, I thought it was incredibly moving: I loved the idea of this man choosing to hold on to something that he thought was more beautiful, more comfortable than reality.”

The pre-production and production were funded privately, with post-production costs covered via London-based Wonder Room’s VFX partners including Inky Mind and a Kickstarter campaign.

“We were incredibly lucky to have an actor of the calibre of Lambert Wilson on our small production,” director Giacomo Cimini said. “and he was incredibly helpful not only with me, but with the super-young and super-talented Samuel Joslin, who had just come off his first feature film, The Impossible.”

The film won the runner-up prize for live-action short over 15 minutes at the Palm Springs Shorts Fest in June and also won the Best Short Film in Generator at Giffoni. After recently screening at the Fantastic Fest and BFI London Film Fetival, The Nostalgist’s forthcoming festivals include Utopiales in Nantes, Science Plus Fiction Film Festival in Trieste, Lucca Comics & Games Festival, Leeds International Short Film Festival, Asiana International Short Film Festival and Gijon International Film Festival.

For more visit new VOD platform We Are Colony.