30. Film Festival della Lessinia
Bosco Chiesanuova (Italia)
23 August - 1 September 2024

Italian premiere

Exploring the mountains of Iran and interacting freely with the local populations has been an impossible goal in recent years for any documentary filmmaker and even for simple excursionists. During the spring of 2011, a small team of Swiss documentarists was granted exclusive access to the mountain range that runs from the Turkish border to that of eastern Afghanistan. The authorities imposed only one principal condition upon them: no politics! In this way, the pretext of a mountain skiing expedition became the key to a voyage in rural Iran, in the shadows of the marvellous volcanoes and in the maze of the political eruptions that condition the country. The encounter with this population is made even more authentic by the local guide who gives the filmmakers access to their homes and permits them to interact with the dialects spoken up there as well as investigate the small contradictions dictated by the iron-fisted regime. The spectacular natural scenery is juxtaposed with the tenderness of these meetings in this remote region, filled with ancestral charm. 

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  Mario Casella

  Mario Casella is an Alpine guide, journalist and writer. Since 1985 he has worked as a producer and documentary filmmaker for the Swiss television RSI as well as on independent productions, often with Fulvio Mariani. At the Film Festival della Lessinia they won the Lessinia D'Oro in 2008 with Grozny Dreaming, the prize from the public and the prize from the jury of inmates in 2012 with Vite tra i vulcani and participated in 2016 with Inverno afghano.
  

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  Fulvio Mariani

  Born in Chaux-de-Fonds in 1958, he is both a director and producer, and is passionate about Alpinism and photography. Since 1981 he has worked for the RSI, making films with the most world-renowned Alpinists. He often collaborated with Mario Casella. At the Film Festival della Lessinia, the two directors won the Lessinia D'Oro in 2008 with Grozny Dreaming, the prize from the public and prize from the jury of inmates in 2012 with Vite tra i vulcani and participated in 2016 with Inverno afghano.