Il monte interiore
THE INNER MOUNTAIN
Michele Sammarco / Italy / 2020 / 40 min / Colour
In the Euganean Hills, amidst the winter fog, a man listens anxiously to the braying of Giorgio the donkey, which is different from the call he hears every day. His animal is sick and refuses to move, so the farmer asks the village priest for advice. But the young parish priest can't help him, as he doesn't give any space to old popular beliefs. Only the priest's housekeeper approaches the man, handing him a bag of salt. Going up the mountain there is a small church and inside it a statue of Saint Anthony, who can bless that salt and make Giorgio well. Michele Sammarco relies on non-professional actors and explores a peasant world populated by dreams and ancient traditions that have never disappeared, but are hidden from view like embers still burning under the ashes. His lens oscillates between the materiality of the earth, the mud and the animals and a dreamlike dimension that ignites like a long-awaited flame.
Michele Sammarco
A director from Padua, born in 1991, he studied Visual and Performing Arts at IUAV in Venice and graduated in Film Directing from the Luchino Visconti School of Cinema in Milan. With his short film Maria vola via (2017), he began exploring traditions and rituals of the rural world. He participated in the creation of the web documentary Setteponti Walkabout (2018), presented at the Taormina Film Fest and the RIFF in Rome. Il monte interiore (2020) was selected by Visions du Réel. In 2025, he took part in Berlinale Talents.
Credits
Subject Michele SammarcoScreenplay Michele SammarcoCinematography Marco PirondiniSound Agit Utlu, Tommaso Barbaro, Marcello La FortezzaEditing Michele SammarcoMusic Gianpaolo CapobiancoMain cast Antonio Cappellato e l'asino Giorgio, Gabriella Ferrarese, Massimo PiovanProduction company Michele Sammarco
