Valsusa Filmfest in Villar Focchiardo

On the 120th anniversary of Mario Soldati's birth, the Valsusa Filmfest is dedicating an evening to the great Piedmontese writer, director, journalist, and television writer, retracing his relationship with the Susa Valley through images, testimonies, readings, and films.

The event, scheduled for Friday, May 15th, at 9:00 pm at Cascina Roland in Villar Focchiardo, will feature Anna Cardini Soldati, Mario Soldati's daughter-in-law and founder of the cultural association named after him.

The evening, titled "Mario Soldati and the Susa Valley," is one of the special events of the 30th edition of the Valsusa Filmfest, a community film and cultural festival dedicated to the themes of historical memory, the mountains, the environment, and social inclusion.

The event will be hosted by Antonita Fonzo and Andrea Galli, President of the Valsusa Filmfest association, with readings by Antonietta Perretta, video editing by Luigi Cantore, and research collaboration by Claudio Giovale. The initiative is organized in collaboration with the Mario Soldati Cultural Association of Bologna, the Municipality of Villar Focchiardo, the Unione Montana Valle Susa, the "Luigi Martoia" Municipal Library, and Cascina Roland.

One of the most original writers of the Italian twentieth century, a film director, screenwriter, journalist, and pioneer of television storytelling, Mario Soldati was born in Turin on November 17, 1906, and maintained a deep connection with Piedmont and its landscapes throughout his life. The Susa Valley, in particular, features repeatedly in his imagination and work, through personal memories, literary settings, cinematic references, and television appearances.

Over the course of the evening, numerous episodes connecting Soldati to the Valley will be recalled. These include the films "Piccolo Mondo Antico," "Fuga in Francia," "E’ l’amor che mi rovina," the famous television reportage "Viaggio nella Valle del Po," made between 1957 and 1958 and considered RAI's first food and wine reportage, and several short stories from "Storie di Spettri" and "I racconti del maresciallo."

Special attention will also be paid to the themes of mountains and borders, recurring elements in Soldati's work. The Susa Valley, with its passes, its roads to France, and its identity as a land of passage, becomes in Soldati not only a geographical location, but also a narrative space where memory, adventure, anxiety, freedom, and transformation intertwine.

The event will allow us to rediscover a central figure of twentieth-century Italian culture through a territorial perspective, highlighting how the Susa Valley landscape interacted with his writing, his cinema, and his way of describing Italy.

Those interested can enjoy an aperitif before the meeting at Cascina Roland, starting at 7:00 PM, for €15. Reservations are recommended by Thursday, May 14th, by calling 3335377434.

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Municipality of Villar Focchiardo - Villar Focchiardo