Daniele De Michele's 'I villani' explores Italian peasant food culture at Venice Film Festival

Daniele De Michele's documentary 'I villani' premiered at the 75th Venice Film Festival's Giornate degli Autori. The film investigates Italian peasant cuisine—food 'of the people' as made by grandparents—through four protagonists representing North and South, men and women, young and old. It follows them from dawn to dusk, depicting their daily work in agriculture, fishing, livestock, cheese-making, and family cooking. The documentary serves both as an ode to land and authenticity and as a cry against bureaucracy that hinders traditional food practices. De Michele emphasizes food as a social experience, not just nourishment, highlighting the transmission of generational knowledge and the preservation of Italy's culinary heritage. The film questions whether Italian cuisine remains a living patrimony or will disappear. The director noted that his subjects' intimate stories and skilled cooking revealed the essence of Italian cuisine: wise, tasty, frugal, and respectful of land and sea.