a movie written and directed by GIANLUCA VASSALLO · a WHITE BOX STUDIO production · in association with PERCETTIVA & THE CURIOSITY CABINET · produced by MADDALENA SATTA · co-produced by ALESSIA CALVANI and WHITNEY GEORGE · executive producer GIANLUCA VASSALLO · MERCEDES CORVEDDU · ROBERTO VERBENA · FRANCESCO MANNIRONI · cinematography GIANLUCA VASSALLO · production sound DANIELE GUARNERA · editors GIULIO TIBERTI and GIANLUCA VASSALLO · color correction FRANCESCO MANNIRONI · sound design DANIELE GUARNERA · original music by WHITNEY GEORGE · assistant director MERCEDES CORVEDDU · camera operators FRANCESCO MANNIRONI and ROBERTO VERBENA · graphic design SAMUELE SAVIO for CHOICE STUDIO · illustration CARLO GIAMBARRESI · press office ALESSANDRA VEZZOLI and MARIA PAOLA ROMERI per R-EVOLUTION — a movie by GIANLUCA VASSALLO
\ Technical Specifications
Title: The Lunch — A Letter to America
Country: Italy / USA
Year: 2025
Running Time: 94′
Format: Digital, Color, 2.39:1
Language: English
Subtitles: Italian, English
Production Companies: White Box Studio (IT); Percettiva (IT); The Curiosity Cabinet (USA)
Italian Distributor: Lo Scrittoio
Status: World Premiered at DOC@POFF, November 2025
Italian Premiere at Bellaria FIlm Festival May 2026
Italian Thatrical Release May 14th
\ Synopsis
“America, I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing.”
They might sound like the words of today’s voiceless America.
But they belong to Ginsberg, in 1956.
Eduardo, a Mexican cook at the Parkview Diner in Coney Island who crossed the desert twenty years ago to reach the United States, becomes the unaware axis around which a story writes itself during the last week of the U.S. presidential campaign. Among fortuitous encounters, patriotic songs, accidental bodies, acts of pity, playful militancy, prayers, violence, and tenderness — from the metropolis of the world to landscapes of desperate beauty — the story, turned into ground meat, finally returns to him. Just in time for Robert, a steadfast Trump supporter and defender of anti-immigration policies, to receive a hamburger as the polls close and History unfolds.
The Lunch — A Letter to America is a film written by reality itself, or perhaps a film in which reality has done everything possible to look as if it had already been scripted. But, in the end, does it really matter? Stories write themselves with the hands of the world. While the hands of the voiceless prepare lunch.
\ Director’s Statement
I found myself in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, in October 2016.
And there, without warning, I stumbled upon the story that would quietly alter the course of my life.
It was the first time I ever dreamed of making a film.
I was crossing the Midwest for a commercial art project commissioned by Safilo. I had a camera around my neck, a cheap rental car, and America unfolding ahead of me. After miles and miles of woods, rivers, and wandering animals, Alex — who was traveling with me — and I stopped for a quick bite in a diner set along an endless state road, the first outpost of civilization on that cold morning.
It was one month before the presidential election. Trump was still a joke to most American cities, and to Europe as well. We pulled into the Airport Diner and parked beside the pickup from Eddie’s Garage Auto Repair, decorated with two small “Make America Great Again” flags. Eddie, or someone very much like him, saw immediately that we were outsiders. Proudly, he opened the door: “Best hamburger in town,” he said, before sitting at the corner of the counter, just under the TV, and giving Mike, the waiter, a small nod — the gesture of someone who always orders the same thing.
Then came a peculiar silence, the kind born of frying meat and local news murmuring in the background. It lasted five minutes, until the bell rang above the pass. Through it, you could barely see Ramon’s eyes. His Mexican hands slid the hamburger, fries, and pickles forward into Mike’s pale hands. Mike lifted the plate and walked it to the far end of the counter. “Enjoy your meal.” The mechanic smiled at him and bit into it hungrily — biting, with who knows what awareness, into Ramon’s work, Ramon’s hands, Ramon’s life.
The idea for this film was born that day. Later, Mike — who confessed he was a Trotskyist, a Trotskyist in Kutztown — told us: “Eddie, or whoever he is, will win the election, and his hamburger won’t taste as good anymore.” Something in that scene — in the choreography of hands, in the fragile coexistence of lives that never truly meet, in the silence between the bell and the bite — revealed a way of reading America that no political commentary could match.
That instinct never left me. I made this film instinctively, because I don’t believe there is any other way to truly read the world. I began thinking it would be a political film; I returned knowing it was simply, profoundly human. The spark that ignited in Kutztown, in that modest diner off a state road, followed me across thousands of miles and resurfaced years later in the story of Eduardo and Robert — two men unknowingly bound by an invisible thread, two men who will never meet and yet shape one another’s destiny through the quiet gestures that sustain our shared present.
Through them I discovered a universal story: a story of solitude, longing, and the small, unspoken acts of love that silently hold the world together. In the end, this film is nothing more — and nothing less — than the attempt to protect that fragile truth.
\ Director of Photography’s Statement
Expanding the Real to the Edge of Imagination
The cinematography of The Lunch — A Letter to America stems from a radical commitment to present light — a political choice, emphasized by the use of anamorphic lenses that expand the horizon, broadening the space of the real while offering the observation of truth the intensity of imagination. If the visible space doesn’t lie, let the viewer at least get lost in the doubt that all this reality might be nothing but a dream.
The panoramic format stretches rural voids and urban silences into a space that feels almost metaphysical. No spectacle. After all, the reality we encountered — fragmented, vulnerable, radiant — had no need to be dramatized: it called, above all, for an act of care, a taking charge by sensitivity, not by the gaze.
\ SOUND DESIGNER’S STATEMENT
Sacred Noise and Profane Silence
The sound design of The Lunch is born from a radical act of listening: an attention to the tonalities of places and to the society that has grown upon them, to the weight of silences that shape encounters.
Tonalities — though often not consciously perceived — are always present, exerting a deep and pervasive influence on our behavior and state of mind. They outline the character of those who live immersed in them, shaping the way they think, act, and relate to one another.
We crossed the country recording every single environment at every stage of the journey, building a living archive of authentic sounds. I employed high-resolution multichannel recording techniques — from ambisonic microphones to ORTF and XY stereo pairs — to capture both the spatial depth and the tonal precision of each place. Every sound source was documented from multiple perspectives, ensuring in post-production complete control over three-dimensionality and spatial placement within the sound field.
These materials were then layered and interwoven into a deeply immersive mix, designed not only to faithfully recreate the places we encountered, but to amplify their narrative power — guiding the listener through an emotional geography as real as it is interior.
Within this sonic landscape, every diner’s murmur, every distant radio broadcast, every truck crossing an endless highway becomes part of an architecture of presences that reveals a vision. We chose to resist embellishment: reality already carried its own drama. Our task was to protect it, to respect its breath.
Any sound emitted within a space is, to a greater or lesser degree, bound to a ritual — whether familiar, religious, or clandestine. The aim was to convey the fullest possible intensity of the real, making sound an act of testimony.
Sound thus becomes a map of coexistence: layered, at times dissonant, rarely indulgent. It invites the viewer to lean in, to feel the space around the image, to sense that in the vibration of a cup set down on a counter, in the loading of a rifle, or in the silence enveloping a rural night, there is an entire America listening back.
\ the stories within the story
Eduardo Hernandez
Eduardo is a Mexican cook who has been working at the Parkview Diner in Coney Island, New York, for over twenty years. He arrived in the United States after crossing the desert and started working at the diner shortly after. There, he met his wife, an Albanian woman who initially worked as a waitress before becoming a nurse. She now lives in Albania with their two daughters, having decided to leave the United States behind.
Robert Arnold Linsay
Robert is a middle-aged Republican and political commentator based in Coney Island. He was raised in a Midwestern working-class family and moved to New York to pursue opportunities in right-wing media. His daily life is strongly centered around politics, which he views through the ideological lens of the MAGA movement.
Julie Kennedy
Julie is a social worker at United Way, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals in need across the United States. A former drug addict, she overcame her addiction with the help of the same organization she now works for. Her personal experience with extreme marginalization informs her empathetic and effective approach to assisting clients.
Jack Brooks
Jack is a U.S. Marines veteran who served in multiple war zones throughout his life. He currently manages a chapter of the American Legion in Chillicothe, Ohio. His ongoing contact with veterans, their families, and the broader local community provides a clear perspective on how military culture shapes everyday life in the Midwest.
Martin Coronel
Martin is a Mexican-born auto mechanic who moved to Seymour, Indiana, over twenty years ago. After working in a factory for several years, he opened his own auto repair shop, primarily serving Spanish-speaking clients. The recent growth of the Latino population in the area has brought both opportunities and social tensions, which Martin navigates as a respected community member.
Marilyn Copp
Marilyn is a retired attorney and long-time Democratic activist based in Peoria, Illinois. She is also actively involved in the local liberal arts scene and in civic initiatives supporting minority rights. After a career in law, she continues to engage intellectually and politically, contributing to grassroots efforts and public discourse in her community.
Rick Fox
Rick is the Democratic Party secretary in Peoria, Illinois. He coordinates a group of elderly volunteers who write and send postcards encouraging voter turnout across the state. Observing the party’s activities in the lead-up to Election Day offers insight into grassroots mobilization in the state that once produced one of the most charismatic Democratic presidents of recent history.
Jared Shaner
Jared is the principal of Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois, where he also coaches the school’s football team, the Dixon Duchesses. With a background in teaching and athletics, he plays a key role in shaping the school’s culture. The school is also known as the alma mater of Ronald Reagan, a legacy that still resonates in the community.
Pastor Michelle Elfers
Michelle serves as pastor in Richland Center, Wisconsin, where she leads her congregation with a focus on social justice, community support, and interfaith outreach. Her pastoral work weaves together spiritual guidance and civic engagement, making her a respected figure in both religious and local civic life.
Paul Street
Paul is an intellectual and lifelong communist based in Iowa City, Iowa. As a scholar and activist, he engages deeply with political theory, social movements, and grassroots organizing. His work occupies the intersection of rigorous academic analysis and committed political practice.
Mark Leonard
Mark is a cattle breeder and agricultural entrepreneur based in Holstein, Iowa. Raised in a farming family, he manages Leonard Limousin & Angus, a multi-generational livestock operation. Deeply rooted in Christian faith and conservative values, he approaches both his work and civic life with a sense of mission and tradition. He is also an active participant in Civil War reenactments, where he often portrays Union General John Buford.
The Maier Family
The Maiers run a family-owned slaughterhouse in the countryside near Fort Pierre, South Dakota, on the edge of the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation. Today the operation is managed by the sons, who are already passing their skills to the next generation, carrying forward a legacy in which land, labor, and identity remain deeply intertwined.
Obrein Grant
Obrein is a Jamaican truck driver who arrived in the United States seven years ago. He leads a quiet life, spent between endless highways, long hauls of processed meat, and phone calls to his father back in Jamaica. He often drives for up to 20 hours a day, chasing the hope of a better life.
\ THE JOURNEY
The film was shot during a 5,500 km circular road trip across 13 U.S. states, carried out over 26 days between October 7 and November 10. It begins in Coney Island, New York, with Eduardo Hernandez and Robert Arnold Linsay, and continues in New York City with Whitney George and Sarah Goldrainer. From there, the journey moves west through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where we filmed Julie Kennedy in Lancaster, then enters West Virginia and crosses into Ohio, where we met Jack Brooks in Chillicothe. In Indiana, we filmed Martin Coronel in Seymour, then continued into Illinois, where we met Marylin Copp and Rick Fox in Peoria, and Jared Shaner in Dixon. In Wisconsin, we stopped in Richland Center to film Pastor Michelle Elfers. In Iowa, we worked in Iowa City with Paul Street and in Holstein with Mark and Sheryl Leonard. The route continued west through Nebraska and ended on the outbound leg in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, where we filmed the Maier Family.
The return to New York followed a northern route through Minnesota, then again through Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, closing the circle in Coney Island. On that return leg, we filmed Obrien Grant, a long-haul trucker transporting meat across the Midwest. He lives in Coney Island, where the stories of Eduardo and Robert begin and end.
Contextual footage—landscapes, towns, and roadways—was shot across the entire route.
A second, shorter shooting session took place from January 7 to 24, during the week of the presidential inauguration. This phase was limited to New York City and Washington, D.C.
\ THE CREW
Since its earliest film productions, White Box Studio has stood out for its use of a consistent, long-term creative collective, which has now reached peak production efficiency.
Thanks to nearly a decade of daily collaboration, the crew built around Vassallo has developed the ability to anticipate both challenges and the director’s creative decisions. This well-established group was joined by Daniele Guarnera, who immediately embraced the spirit of the team, and by Whitney George, who oversaw executive production in the United States, supported by the research and consulting work of Alfredo Chiarappa.
GIANLUCA VASSALLO
Director, DOP, Editor.
MADDALENA SATTA
Producer.
MERCEDES CORVEDDU
Director Assistant.
FRANCESCO MANNIRONI
Colorist, DP A, Cam Op.
ROBERTO VERBENA
DP A, & Cam Op.
DANIELE GUARNERA
Sound designer.
WHITNEY GEORGE
Composer, Co-Producer.
The Lunch — A Letter to America
Press coverage and critical reception — a living archive of what circulates about the film, across print, online, TV and radio.
\The Campaign
#1 — American Letters.
American Letters is a gesture of listening, conducted entirely at a distance.
Through brief remote conversations—simple video calls—we ask four universal questions: What does America mean to you? What does democracy mean to you? What does a stranger mean to you? What do you eat? The format is lean by design: one voice, one frame, one moment of truth captured wherever people live and work.
The project grows outward in circles. It begins with those closest to the film’s world, then expands to local communities and sector groups, reaches connectors and grassroots leaders, and finally encounters civic and cultural institutions. Each participant can invite the next, turning interviews into a living chain that bridges towns and fields, languages and beliefs.
Collected together, these remote testimonies form a human archive of the present—glimpses of freedom, identity, and belonging that travel across distance and difference. American Letters invites anyone, anywhere, to sit for a minute, speak in their own words, and recognize themselves in others.
Just what The Lunch: A Letter to America attempts to do—without asking questions—simply observing, poetically, the present the crew moved through. It already feels like another era. Perhaps it is.
A communication project by White Box Studio, curated by Mercedes Corveddu and Loick Eckstein.