The film

There are stories that begin with an event, and stories that begin with a silence. STAIRS 2: The Sunken begins with a silence that refuses to resolve: a father calling his son and hearing nothing back. Not an argument, not a goodbye just the kind of quiet that grows over time until it becomes a space you can’t cross. I’m Angelo Giordano, an independent filmmaker based in Italy, and I’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring this short film to life. The goal is simple: to protect the film’s minimalism and its emotional weight without diluting it into explanations or spectacle. Crowdfunding, for me, isn’t only a way to raise funds it’s a way to find the small group of people who recognize this kind of distance, whether they’ve been on the side of the parent or the child.

A descent, not a plot

The Sunken is surreal and minimalist, shot in stark black and white. It takes place in liminal spaces (empty offices, silent streets) As the father moves through these spaces, reality slowly stops behaving like reality. Then the film pivots on a single impossible device: an elevator that doesn’t rise. It sinks like a diving bell, measuring its descent toward a depth where pressure becomes sound, where silence becomes weight, and where what’s missing starts to take shape. This is not “horror” in the traditional sense of the word. There’s no rush to explain the rules, no comfort of a neat answer. The dread comes from recognition: that the abyss isn’t death, and it isn’t madness. It’s the distance that grows when you’re not there, and time keeps moving anyway.

Why I cast my father

The most personal decision in this project is also the most essential one: the protagonist is played by my father. I didn’t make this choice to be provocative or clever. I made it because the film is built on generational absence on what is inherited without being spoken and I needed a presence that wasn’t performed. His restraint, his weight, his way of holding silence: these are not “acting choices” in the usual sense. They’re lived texture. Without that, the film would be an imitation of something real. I’m not making a film about blame. I’m making a film about recognition—about arriving too late, and still choosing to look.

A film shaped by sound and pressure

Visually, The Sunken is stripped down: no excess, no visual noise, no “answers” presented as exposition. The emotional movement comes through space, rhythm, and sound design. Sound is not decoration here—it’s narrative. The descent compresses the world. Metal complains. Air feels heavier. Silence becomes physical. The film is designed so that the audience doesn’t just watch a character sink—they feel what it means to be pulled downward by what was left unresolved.

Where the crowdfunding goes

We’re keeping the production contained and precise. Support goes toward: location access and permits, production design and practical effects, equipment, fair compensation for collaborators, and especially post-production—where editing and sound design will carry the emotional engine of the film. Because this is a fully independent production, the exact dates will be confirmed around the availability and commitments of the people involved, and the schedule may shift accordingly. What won’t shift is the intent: to make a quiet film that trusts the audience, and to do it with transparency through regular updates.

How to support

If this story resonates with you, you can support the campaign directly on Kickstarter. Even sharing it with someone who might connect to the theme helps more than you think. Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/627343258/stairs-2-the-sunken Public launch update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/627343258/stairs-2-the-sunken/posts/4623528 Thank you for reading and for being part of a kind of filmmaking that still believes small, personal stories can carry real weight.