Synopsis
Riace, Calabria. After 20 years of harmony, this village, which had made welcoming migrants its future, became the target of the populist wave consuming Italy. The venom has spread and Domenico Lucano, its mayor, is the object of a cabal and forced into exile. After months of painstaking destruction, Riace faces a dilemma: resist or disappear.
A word from Tënk
In A Village in Resistance, it is Riace, “the little light of the South” in the Calabria region of Italy, that stands as the heroine. In the face of the arrest and subsequent house arrest of its mayor, Domenico Lucano—suspected of aiding illegal immigration—the entire small town rises in indignation. Despite the uncertainty that grips the villagers, from the lengthy investigation process to the much-feared trial, they band together in solidarity, a sentiment shared by those who support Lucano, firmly believing they are on the right side of history, even as xenophobic movements gain ground across the country.
As if to give us a glimpse of the warm welcome extended to those seeking refuge in Riace, the narrator takes us inside the scenes, whether it’s with local shopkeepers worried about the town’s future or within the migrant integration services, which continue their work despite financial cuts imposed by the government. Through the camera’s lens, which meanders through the sunlit alleys, the viewer is invited to share in both the fears and hopes of the town’s residents, for whom resistance is nothing less than an existential necessity.
Fanny Tan
Researcher in residence
Center on Multidimensional Conflicts
Chaire Raoul-Dandurand
