One line
A short film in a Milan café: two strangers share a table because there are no others. They never speak. Forty minutes of real time cut to twelve. 35mm, natural light, one location, two actors who have never met before the first take.
She looks past him. He looks at the glass. That's the whole relationship, one frame, no dialogue.
Two people at the next table, not ours. The scene is theirs; we only overhear. Cut on the waiter.
The scene isn't the moment two people understand each other. It's the cut after, when one of them is alone again. Always shoot the room empty.
Two chairs facing each other is a negotiation. Two chairs side by side is a marriage. Two chairs at a right angle is the start of something. Block accordingly.
Café candidates: Porta Venezia, morning light from the east. Shoot on a weekday.