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OUR STORY
SYNOPSIS
Against the backdrop of Florence, two strangers from different worlds forge a brief, bittersweet connection that echoes long after their inevitable goodbye.
This intimate, Italian-language drama traces the evolution of a romance between an American woman and a local man. Their effortless connection is shadowed by the weight of unspoken truths and a haunting local legend: a woman who kept her window open for a love that never returned. Through this lens of hope and impermanence, the film captures a brief, bittersweet encounter that defines a lifetime.
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Woven through their story is a local Florentine legend of a woman who kept her window open, waiting for her love to return, a symbolic thread that reflects both hope and impermanence.
In just a few fleeting moments, the film captures the beauty of connection, the inevitability of change, and the emotional resonance of a love that is both bittersweet and deeply human.
THE LEGEND
In Florence, there is a long-held story of a woman who kept her window open while she waited for her love to return from war. The legend is known as “La Finestra Sempre Aperta”, the window always left open.​
It is said that she left the window open year after year, waiting for him to come back to her. Although he never did, she never closed it. The window remained open for the rest of her life.
Over time, the story became part of the city itself. The window still stands today, preserved as a quiet symbol of love, longing, suspended in the space between hope and absence.
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The legend of the open window in Florence offered a natural anchor. It was something already rooted in the city, carrying its own sense of devotion, longing, and time. A woman who kept her window open, waiting for her love to return. The story carried its own sense of devotion, longing, and time. It became a quiet parallel to the story, suggesting that these experiences are not new, but part of a much deeper human pattern of connection, longing, and change.
ACROSS BORDERS
Look for me in Florence is a cross-cultural production between the United States and Italy, developed and filmed entirely on location in Florence. Led by a California-based production company and created in collaboration with an Italian cast and creative team, the film reflects a genuine exchange of perspective, language, and storytelling.
BASED IN TRUTH
This film grew out of a lived experience. While spending time in Italy, there was a natural encounter with connection, language, and cultural exchange that felt both simple and deeply meaningful. It was not dramatic or exaggerated. It was quiet, real, and emotionally honest. That feeling became the foundation for the film.
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The project came together through a collaboration between artists from the United States and Italy, filmed entirely on location in Florence and performed in Italian. Working across languages created a unique creative rhythm, where listening, presence, and emotional clarity became more important than words alone. The process itself reflected the heart of the story, finding connection in the space between cultures.​​​​
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The film was developed with the intention of creating something both culturally specific and universally felt. Rather than focusing on contrast, the process revealed a surprising sense of familiarity. A deep tender love between two people from different worlds. The image of the open window remains, suspended between presence and absence, devotion and separation.
Somewhere is Florence, a window is still left open.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Working with a bilingual and international team was central to the process. It required a different kind of communication and attention, which ultimately strengthened the authenticity of the performances.
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The film follows a relationship shaped by cultural difference, language, and timing, set within the everyday rhythm of Florence. Rather than focusing on dramatic turning points, the intention was to capture the subtle shifts that occur between people as a connection evolves.
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The legend of the open window provided a meaningful reference point. It reflects ideas of waiting, memory, and the passage of time, which echo quietly throughout the film.
INSPIRATION
A NOTE FROM CARMEN
This project came out of a period of time I was living in Florence, where I had gone to study classical opera, art history, and to immerse myself in the Italian language. I had temporarily stepped away from the pace and pressure of the American entertainment industry, thinking I might find something different there, or at least reconnect with why I started creating in the first place.
What stayed with me was not anything dramatic, but something much quieter. The experience of trying to understand and be understood in another language. The way connection shifts when you cannot rely on words in the same way. You begin to listen differently. You pay attention to tone, to presence, to what is felt rather than what is said.
When we began developing the film, I wanted to hold onto that feeling. Not an idealized version of romance, but something more natural and specific. A connection that unfolds between two people from different worlds, shaped just as much by what is unspoken as by what is shared.
Working with the Italian team became an essential part of that. There was a real cultural exchange in the process, not just in language, but in perspective.
We all left with an even deeper respect for culture, language and the willingness to share connection and experiences with a stranger form a different world.
Special Thanks to our Italian Collaborators:
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Accademia Europea di Firenze, FIRENZE
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ALEX MODEL Agenzia, FIRENZE
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Gusta Osteria, Santo Spirito, FIRENZE
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Jessica D’Acunto
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Ludovica Bonanno
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Silvia Morelli
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Studio Variabile, FIRENZE
