Small land (Michele Trentini and Marco Romano, 2012).
A University of Padova and Trotzdem Film production.
In the desolate and abandoned terraced landscape of Valstagna (Veneto, Italian Pre-Alps), some very different figures try to build new lives from the ruins and to fulfil their dreams: one man remains obstinately on his small plot of ancestral land, another leaves his alienating job in a quarry to find himself, a couple from the town of Bassano del Grappa decide to adopt a terrace and to take care of falling walls, and a young Moroccan immigrant tries to integrate himself and his family into his new land by cultivating mint. “Small land” is a story of hope about forgotten mountains and the universal value of the relationship between human beings and the land, which transcends economic profits, political obstacles and cultural boundaries. The “world of losers” of the Sixties, displayed here through the documentary of Giuseppe Taffarel (1963), has experienced a revival, with a fresh taste of mint, belonging and freedom.
First Place Winner for an Italian documentary at the Festival Cinemambiente, Torino 2012.
This high-quality video is also available in an Italian edition (with Italian, French and English subtitles): “Piccola terra”, Verona: Cierre edizioni-Antersass 2012 (DVD+booklet): ww.cierrenet.it.
