In the context of the uni*rural* 2025-2026 program, and on our line of documentation since 2007 of lesser-known aspects, in particular in rural areas, we are inviting you to take part in a survey which focuses from looking for “stuff” to folks who are documenting stuff: we are looking for documentary makers and directors, with their works in rural/marginal areas. We are adding to the survey a prize which, possibly in the wake of the recent Academy Awards we would like to assign to the “best non-supporting tractor”.

If you are in a hurry and you know somebody who made a movie or a documentary on a lesser-known location, please write to segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228. If you have ten minutes please read on. We also recommend, on the same topic, the TV9 interview on Nov. 18 on the first “Jug Film Festival per le Colline Metallifere” (click here). This was considered interesting by the audience due to the presence of Mauro Tirannosauro and Jefferson the punk emu.

Where does this start from?

The idea for the survey spawns from the case of Tatti, Southern Tuscany, 209 residents, close to Massa Marittima, circa 100 km South of Florence, and 200 km North or Rome. Over a period of five years, we have noted at least four documentaries: 2021, Carlo Simeoni – Volere è Podere, 2023 Le api di Tatti, by Federico Santini, 2025 Ruedi Gerber, Tatti, paese dei sognatori (Tatti, the village of dreamers), 2026 – Susan Gluth – “Wenn Toskana-Auswanderer älter werden” (“When expats in Tuscany get old”).

These projects had different types of development and distribution, but all have in common the idea of telling the story of a small village and its people.

For the residents in the area, the fact of their village receiving such a level of attention is associated to the uniqueness of their place. The film coverage also gives a sort of “moral support” for communities living not in the most troubled parts of Italy, but with a number of open issues in terms of availability of services and resources to support a community.

But…how unique is this uniqueness? Since we monitor our main area of operation (Maremma and the Metalliferous Hills, around one quarter of Tuscany), we see that there are periodically video reports and documentaries in other locations…are they peculiar but less unique? Or…if a community lives in a place which has no documentaries about it, will it have less value? Furthermore, in the development of a marginal community, is it better to be featured in a documentary, to become the location for non-tourist productive facilities, or to be the home village for a Nobel prize? We need to see what is around…

(Three random cats. They are unrelated to the topic, but they improve the positioning of this article in the meta-verse)

Do you know of a feature film or a documentary about a lesser-known/marginal place?

If you live in such an area, and you have produced a documentary, or a film, about your place, or you know somebody who did this, please write to segreteria@unirural.org or +39 3317539228.

Concerning the definition of “lesser known” or “marginal”: we do not intend to draw a hard line on e.g. the number of residents, or refer to parameters used in studies etc, since this might end up excluding interesting works. We are in any case considering villages, valleys, bays, etc.. places with a geographic identity.

We would like to learn about these projects and provide visibility to them through our network. As for other “surveys” we will have a map and some articles (https://www.mappare.org/atlante/).

All responses will be advertised and could become part of collaborations, events, reviews, and more initiatives within the uni*rural* 2025/2026…we will see!

Duration of the survey and awards/mentions

There is time to submit your entries. We aim to present the results around mid-December. If you can send your entries by mid-September we have time to organize the presentation, and possibly assign prizes and mentions (if you would like to become a sponsor: segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228).

For the moment we are considering the “Best Supporting Tractor” role, and other categories relating to rural aspects of life.

Selection Criteria

If we were to define these a priori, we will be in falling in the trap of “perceived objectiveness” of a documentary. Please send your entries, then we will have a look. As for our participatory civic works atlas (https://www.mappare.org/aplc, launched in August 2025), it will be interesting to consider two extremes, which sometimes blend. On one side we expect works produced with “local blood, sweat, and tears”, and no film commissions. On the other side we expect works which are conceived away from the places they portray.

We are aware of cases where the director and all of the production team is born and raised in a village, and other cases where the “driving force” of the prodution is not local. This have a very different impact on the audience, and on the territories. Say…: I came on vacation from Scandinavia to Poggio Marcellone close to Ratanzano, in the heart of Campania and I saw the sun for the first time in 43 years. I had 12 milion euro left over from a patent deal with some DotCom folks, so I made a documentary with a soundtrack by Randy van der Knaufen. He is the first violin in the Rantzburg symphonic orchestra. So Poggio Marcellone is nicer than Rocca Frandaglia which is 6 km away. And the sunset is better.

At the end of the day, we are not expecting this modus operandi to change. We do not even want to say what is better. We would just like to contribute to give a little more visibility to projects which have less visibility opportunities, but maybe work with the same spirit of those who have more of exposure.

For more information or comments

segreteria@unirural.org or +393317539228.

(Jefferson, the punk emù , during a pause on the set of “barefoot in Melissano”)

P.S.

With the pibinko.org network we have produced many short movies and interviews, so we have a lot of footage https://www.pibinko.org/videos/…to date, the most structured documentary we made is the story of 20 folks from three villages who went to Chicago to play their ancient games- https://www.pibinko.org/palla-21-a-chicago-e-ritorno-trailer/. So… we still miss our own contribution to a really local project. Let’s see if 2027 bring new material for our video manifesto…

Closing track: