Riccardo Milani's 'Un mondo a parte' premieres in Italian theaters

Riccardo Milani's film 'Un mondo a parte' premieres in Italian theaters on March 28, 2024, distributed by Medusa Film. The movie stars Antonio Albanese and Virginia Raffaele, with a cast of local non-professional actors from Abruzzo towns including Pescasseroli, Opi, Barrea, Villetta Barrea, and Gioia dei Marsi. The story follows Michele, an elementary school teacher who transfers from suburban Rome to a mountain village in the Abruzzo National Park. He arrives unprepared, wearing moccasins in the snow, and meets Agnese, the vice principal who serves as confidante, friend, and guide. The school, attended by only seven children, faces closure, prompting the community to fight for its survival. Milani, who co-wrote the script with Michele Astori, drew inspiration from decades of observing depopulation in Abruzzo's small towns, where populations shrank from 3,000 to 1,000 to 300. The film was shot in an abandoned school that was temporarily revived for production. The narrative explores themes of community, precarity, identity, and 'restanza'—a concept by anthropologist Vito Teti about the choice to stay versus leave. Milani notes that many small communities across Italy have used creative, sometimes legally ambiguous methods to keep schools open, which he sees as a sign of emerging change. The film arrives one year after the centenary of the Abruzzo National Park.