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

DER ZAUBERBERG

THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN

Hans Wilhelm Geissendörfer / 153 min / 1982 / Austria, France, Germany, Italy

Based on the television series inspired by Thomas Mann's novel, this film tells the story of Hans Castorp's seven years in the Davos sanatorium, in the Alps of the Canton of Grisons, in the imminence of the outbreak of World War One. Filmed in the Tempelhof studios in Berlin and in various locations in Switzerland, this film is the only faithful cinematic adaptation of Mann's masterpiece.

GLENN, THE GREAT NATURE LOVER

Anna Erlandsson / 5 min / 2023 / Norway, Sweden

A couple of young nature lovers fall in love during an excursion and decide to build their own love nest in a bucolic clearing where an elderly farmer used to live. So they demolished the old wooden house to build a majestic villa with swimming pool. But will they really be willing to coexist with nature and its inhabitants?

PUFFLING

Jessica Bishopp / 20 min / 2023 / Iceland, United Kingdom

Birta and Selma live on a small island a few kilometres off the Icelandic coast, in Vestmannaeyjar. When puffins leave the nest, they often get lost in the village, confused by the many lights. Together with other young people, the set out to find the little chicks and bring them back to the cliff, where they will make their first flight.

THE SECRET OF TIME

Tzu Hsiang Chang, Wei Dai / 20 min / 2023 / Italian premiere / Taiwan

Yan An lives with his grandmother in the mountains of Taiwan. When his aging grandmother has to be treated in the hospital, Yan An's world turns upside down: he is entrusted to an adoptive family and shortly afterwards his father arrives him to tell him that his grandmother, sadly, has passed away. For the boy, adapting to the changing situation and saying goodbye to the mountains of his childhood will not be easy.

A SUMMER'S END POEM

Lam  Can-zhao / 15 min / 2024 / China, Malaysia, Switzerland

The day before starting middle school, a country boy decides to go to the city to get a trendy haircut, so as to impress his new classmates. He takes all his savings and sets off for the nearest shopping mall, only to discover that, sometimes, expectations are better than the outcome.

TO BIRD OR NOT TO BIRD

Martín Romero / 9 min / 2023 / Italian premiere / Spain

For some birds forced to live on the margins of human society, what has remained of their existence? The abundance of food in the garbage has made them plump and soft; the sounds of traffic and the rhythms of human society stun them. In this distorted reality, a cuckoo-clock bird dreams of escape with a flock of migratory birds.

THE CHILDREN BEHIND ZALAGA

Karim Ali / 65 min / 2023 / Italian premiere / European premiere / Egypt, Germany

In Sinai's Wadi Zalaga, young jockeys race camels to earn money for their families, forgoing school and putting their well-being at risk. Despite efforts by international organisations and governments to eliminate child labour in the camel racing industry, the practice continues in some parts of the world.

SAKSHI RUKH

THE WITNESS TREE

Niranjan Raj  Bhetwal / 14 min / 2023 / Nepal, United States

On the eve of his coming of age ceremony, Shreedhar discovers the secret of his father's death, forcing his mother to choose whether to tell the truth or protect him. She is determined to put an end to the past and takes him to a mountain convent where she hopes that the monks can help him find peace, but he still has many questions and does not accept this silence.

KHALIL

Seyed Payam Hosseini / 20 min / 2024 / European premiere / Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Khalil is a 13-year-old boy who lives in a village on the Iranian plateau. He has just lost his father and now fears for the fate of his soul. Determined to do everything possible, he will involve all the people around him hoping to influence divine judgment, until, with the help of his school teacher, he turns directly to God to beg for his mercy.

WO TU

ABOVE THE DUST

Wang Xiaoshuai / 123 min / 2024 / China, Netherlands

Ten year old Wo Tu lives in a village in China where modernisation is emptying rural communities. While his parents dig for family heirlooms, Wo Tu dreams of a water gun. His grandfather promises to make his wish come true and, once he dies, his spirit will appear in his grandson's dreams, guiding him through a dreamlike treasure hunt that will reveal the village's past.