Il Sergente dell'Altopiano. La storia di Mario Rigoni Stern Filming Locations

A journey between present and past, full of testimonies and reflections to recount the writer Mario Rigoni Stern (1921-2008) on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. Over the course of a day, from dawn to starry night, Stern's voice recalls the years of war and imprisonment. The Alpine soldiers' sergeant, who returned home, became in time the guardian of the Asiago plateau and his homeland takes on the value of a world to be preserved against wars and indifference. Leading the narration of the documentary is the voice of the writer himself, recorded on many occasions throughout his life. Starting with the last years and travelling backwards, the writer recalls the war, imprisonment and the return home, ending at the time of the publication of 'Sergeant in the Snow' (1953), the book that marked the beginning of his career. To respect this personal narrative, we sought out testimonies from the writer's private life. This includes friends from the theatre, film and music, as well as people associated with collaborations of which the writer left documentation. Symbolically, the story takes place over the course of a day on the Asiago Plateau, from dawn to starry night. In fact, many locations in the Asiago basin that Stern used to frequent, from the historic center of Asiago to the Marcésina plain to Mount Zebio, are portrayed in the different seasons. But among the archive material and footage shot for the occasion, other places in the story take us to Val d'Aosta, where young Mario's adventure as an Alpine soldier began in 1938. And then to Albania and Russia where he fought and experienced the harsh retreat of the ARMIR. Finally in Austria, at the Präbichl pass, in search of the Lager where he put his notes in order and resumed writing the 'Sergeant' and in Switzerland, in Val Bavona, a place emblematic of his ideal relationship between man and nature.