The Memory of Water
As a climate crisis starves her city of water, leaving it on the brink of collapse, Holly is called back to Amaris, the town she was raised in to help her grandmother who is suffering unexplained bouts of memory loss.
Synopsis:
The Memory of Water (Mondo Studio Films, Australia). As a climate crisis starves her city of water, leaving it on the brink of collapse, Holly is called back to Amaris, the town she was raised in to help her grandmother who is suffering unexplained bouts of memory loss. Burdened by her own conflicted memories, Holly's return is bittersweet. In the years since Holly left, Amaris has become an autonomous green zone, unaffected by climate change owing to a large water reserve that it reluctantly trades with the increasingly hostile city. The arrival of a city dweller in a time of conflict between Amaris and the capital is met with suspicion, and when the violent fits of memory loss affecting her grandmother start to spread among Amaris’ population, it closes its borders fearing it will lose control of the life-saving water. As Holly traces the origins of the strange affliction hoping to stop its spread, she falls for a mysterious foreigner, and unravels a secret that has the power to save the drought ridden city - yet change the lives of the people she loves in Amaris forever.
Pitchee: Ruth Borgobello (Co-creator, writer, director), Craig Irvin (Co-creator, writer, director), Davide Giusto (Producer)



Ruth Borgobello is a writer/director across Italy and Australia. Ruth’s debut feature, THE SPACE BETWEEN, was the first co-production between the the two countries, and Australia’s candidate for Best Foreign Language Film at 2018 Academy Awards. Ruth is developing NIGHTFLOWERS, supported by FVG Film Fund and an original TV series with Roadshow Rough Diamond, along with THE MEMORY OF WATER and TOYGIRL supported by VicScreen.
Craig Irvin is an award-winning writer and director. His work includes Emmy and BAFTA Award winning TV series Nowhere Boys, and the Emmy winning See Saw Films/Netflix series The New Legends of Monkey. Craig has written for Crazy Fun Park (2023) for ABCME, the ABC crime series Troppo (2022), directing on the third series of Five Bedrooms for Paramount Plus. He has directed two new series The Spooky Files (2023) for the BBC and ABC.
Davide Giusto has produced for cinema, TV, podcasts and commercials, producing THE SPACE BETWEEN, the first Australian/Italian feature co-production with Italian powerhouse, Ideacinema. The film was Australia's entry to 2018 Oscars for Best Foreign Film. Davide has several projects on the fire including THE GOD PARTICLE alongside Roadshow Rough Diamond and THE MEMORY OF WATER and TOYGIRL, supported by VicScreen.
Project Information:
Directors and writers: Ruth Borgobello and Craig Irvin
Producers: Davide Giusto
Development stage: Advanced Development - development materials include pilot draft, series guide. Shooting start ideally early 2025.
Shooting location: Sauris, Italy (proposed) or a similar mountain setting in Northern Europe. Melbourne, Victoria.
Languages: English
Total budget/ Budget per episode: AUD $2 million/EUR 1.25 million episode. Total budget AUD $12 million/EURO 7.3 million
Financing already in place: Development funding of $AUD40K from VicScreen and private financiers in Australia.
Looking for: Co-production partners in Italy and/or Northern European countries, broadcaster interest, financing partners
Company profile:
Mondo Studio Films is a boutique production company working across Film and TV in Australia and Europe. We focus on stories that are impactful, told with heart and humour. We made history with our first feature film, THE SPACE BETWEEN, the very first official co-production between Italy and Australia. The film was Australia’s candidate for Best Foreign Film at the 2018 Academy Awards and was released in cinemas across the two countries. It's now streaming on Amazon worldwide. We work across Europe and Australia, partnering with like-minded production companies to bring ambitious and thought-provoking stories to life. We currently have several projects in development, including an eight-part original TV drama with Roadshow Rough Diamond, feature film Nightflowers, and TV Series The Memory of Water and Toygirl, funded by VicScreen.
Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]