9:00 am
BAKING BREAD IN THE COMMUNITY OVENS
A hike through the hamlets of Corbiolo to discover two collective ovens, with Beatrice Azzolina sharing the history of communal practices in the hamlets, such as bread making. At the end, flatbreads and rolls are prepared and enjoyed together at one of the ovens visited. Start and end: Contrada Grobbe (before the underpass). Length: 8 km. Elevation gain: 250 m. Duration: 2 hours. Difficulty: moderate.
11:00 am
100 YEARS IN THE ABYSS
On the centenary of the first exploration of the Spluga della Preta, the Film Festival della Lessinia, in collaboration with the Benetticeras Association and the Troglobius Speleological Association, presents a series of initiatives to honor the undertaking that marked the beginning of the greatest underground exploration adventure of all time. Francesco Sauro and Alessandro Anderloni will guide the audience through a visit to the multimedia exhibition, which includes a virtual reality installation recreating the descent into the First Shaft of the abyss.
12:00 pm
APERITIF WITH THE DIRECTORS
Learn about the day’s film programme and meet the filmmakers present at the Festival. At the end of the meeting there will be a tasting of products from small producers, with nonalcoholic cocktails and wines from Lessinia wineries. Organized by GAS (Social Purchasing Group) Lessinia.
3:30 pm
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Virtual theater
LA RELIGIONE DELLA LIBERTÀ
THE RELIGION OF LIBERTY
Marco Zuin, Giulio Todescan / 40 min / 2025 / Italy
Antonio Giuriolo scelse per sua religione la libertà. Il documentario, realizzato a ottant’anni dalla morte, fa memoria di un uomo che fu partigiano e maestro di vita, esempio di valori antifascisti. Tra documenti d’archivio e testimonianze di nipoti e studiosi, le immagini ci portano sulle Piccole Dolomiti e sull’Appennino Tosco-Emiliano dove, il 12 dicembre 1944, “Capitan Toni” cadde in combattimento, falciato dalle mitragliatrici tedesche.
LA MARCHESA, LA MONACA, LA MATTA E LA SPIA
THE MARQUISE, THE NUN, THE MADWOMAN AND THE SPY
Antonella Kurzen / 56 min / 2024 / Switzerland
At the end of the 1920s, on the cliffs of Monte Generoso in the Lugano Prealps, along the border between Switzerland and Italy, a mysterious building clinging dramatically to the rock face was erected at the behest of the Marquise Carla Nobili Vitelleschi. Who was this woman? A spy? A madwoman? A hermit? And what lay behind the construction of that retreat, said to be for “religious study and rest”? The documentary attempts to answer these questions.
4:00 pm
Marco Albino Ferrari
THE MOUNTAINS WE WANT
Marco Albino Ferrari returns to the Film Festival della Lessinia with La montagna che vogliamo (Einaudi, 2025), a book in which, following the tone of “denunciation” in his previous works, he offers a new vision of the mountains—one capable of imagining alternative models of development to better face the immense challenges of climate change and the future. Challenges that increasingly affect highland areas and, by extension, all of us. In conversation with the author is Giacomo Repele.
6:00 pm
OPENING CEREMONY
6:00 pm
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EMIGRANTI
EMIGRANTS
Franco Piavoli / 11 min / 1963 / Italy
At Milan’s Stazione Centrale, weary faces and cardboard suitcases tell the story of migrants departing for Northern Europe. With a sober and poetic gaze, Franco Piavoli transforms waiting into a suspended, universal time, where every gesture becomes a collective memory.
L'EMIGRANTE
THE EMIGRANT
Febo Mari / 23 min / 1915 / Italy
A young man leaves his homeland to seek fortune in the New World, only to be met with marginalization, poverty, and deep isolation. L’emigrante, a silent short film from 1915 directed by and starring Febo Mari, offers a poignant portrait of early Italian migration, marked by shattered hopes and profound longing.
CONFINI
BORDERS
Alina Marazzi / 10 min / 2014 / Italy
Archival footage from the Istituto Luce shows young soldiers on Mount Adamello during the Great War. Amid snow and silence, the voice of Mariangela Gualtieri evokes inner boundaries and the madness of war. A poetic short from the collective film 9x10 novanta.
EMIGRAZIONE ’68: L’ITALIA OLTRE CONFINE
EMIGRATION ’68: ITALY BEYOND THE BORDER
Luigi Perelli / 31 min / 1968 / Italy
A journey through the places of Italian emigration in the 1960s: factories, dormitories, mines. The documentary alternates scenes of life abroad with those from the homeland, marked by poverty and neglect. With texts by Dacia Maraini, it offers a clear-eyed and moving portrait of Italian forced to leave.
9:00 pm
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UPSHOT
Maha Haj / 34 min / 2024 / France, Italy, Palestine
In an isolated house in the mountains, a Palestinian couple spends their days tending an olive grove and raising chickens. While at the table, husband and wife talk about their five children and their life plans—until a journalist arrives to interview them about the tragic event that struck their family ten years earlier: an Israeli missile that destroyed their home.
THE SHEPHERD'S KEEPER
Hadara Oren / 70 min / 2024 / Italian premiere / Israel
Palestinian Bedouins have grazed their goats for generations in the arid Jordan Valley, but today the area is under Israeli military control, and these herders face daily threats and violence from soldiers and settlers who deny them freedom of movement. A group of determined Israeli activists fights to defend their rights in this tormented land.
11:00 pm
A musical project born in 2012 from the desire to bring the spirit of Ireland to Italy. Patricks bring to the stage everything that Irish music represents for them: stories of life, conviviality, lightheartedness, and joy. Featuring vocals (Margot Zanetti), fiddle and banjo (Gabriele Girlanda), guitar (Alessio Malesani), Irish whistles (Riccardo Alberti), and drums (Nicolò Alberti), the band delivers a highenergy, modern take on traditional Irish sounds.
