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Italy | Belgium 2024
Opening September 18, 2025
Directed by: Paolo Cognetti
Writing credits: Paolo Cognetti
Principal actors: Documentary: Paolo Cognetti
Bestselling author Paolo Cognetti takes another dive into filmmaking after having so much success with his film Le otto montagne (Acht Berge, The Eight Mountains) which won eighteen awards including the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize in 2022. It was based on his 2016 novel of the same name. In Fiore Mio, Cognetti, accompanied by his dog Laki, takes a personal journey back to the mountain region of his childhood. The film structure is quite complex. The main character is Monte Rosa which is a mountain massif in the Alps, on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The film looks at the environment from different perspectives, from the people living there, to the animals and plants, and finally to the mountain itself. Fiore Mio looks at three huts that provide protection for humans where Cognetti interviews and gains wisdom for the various people he meets. The documentary is a beautiful ode to nature. To paraphrase Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest ecology, this film is not about how we can save the mountain. It is about how the mountain could save us. 80 minutes (Shelly S.)