IDM Film Commission Südtirol

In autumn 1943, in Gross-Partsch, 26-year-old Rosa, who had come from Berlin to stay with the parents of her husband Gregor, who was fighting on the Russian front, was taken by the SS to a mysterious place. Forced to taste a dish, she joins the group of tasters responsible for checking that the food destined for Hitler is not poisoned.

Mont Blanc: summer of 1961. Three Italian climbers, led by charismatic Walter Bonatti, meet four French colleagues, led by Pierre Mazeaud, completely by chance at the Fourche campsite on the French-Italian border. They’ve decided to be the first to climb the Pillar of Frêney, a pillar of rock 750 metres high at the summit of the Mont Blanc. It’s an extremely difficulty climb. Circumstances force them to proceed together, even if carrying out an endeavor like this isn’t easy with seven people. They’re only one hundred and twenty metres short of the top, but suddenly a violent tempest arrives: gusts of wind, flurries of snow and hellish lightning that rattle the mountaineers. The seven organise themselves on three ledges, which is to say two little terraces of granite, waiting for the storm to pass. They only need a few hours to reach the summit and then, descending, the cabin at Vallot. However, the storm progressively gets worse, continuing for four days and nights.

As in a long suite, the cinematographic story of a country, Italy, in its current physiognomy, in a film made only of images and music. A home atlas of wonders that are sometimes misunderstood and of places known, loved and often lost. And of people cultured in their living in a highly stratified territory, between the still usable grandeur of the past and the apparent stasis of the present. A country marked by strong inequalities and nevertheless in continuous transformation in the difficult race towards sustainable development, problematically suspended between the old and the new and the increasingly difficult search for a balance to safeguard its éthos.

“La Valanga Azzurra” traces the unparalleled journey of the Italian national alpine skiing team of the 1970s, led by the legendary coach Mario Cotelli and spearheaded by champions like Gustav Thöni and Piero Gros. Through victories that rewrote the history of Italian sports, such as the conquest of five World Cups and numerous medals across the Olympics and World Championships, the documentary celebrates internal rivalries, contrasting personalities, and the sacrifices that made this team invincible. The previously unseen testimonies of the protagonists, intertwined with the narration of Giovanni Veronesi, who, in this context, reveals his past as an aspiring champion, bring to life the unique saga of a sporting cyclone, from its glorious beginnings to its inevitable decline.