Winter 1944. In the snow-covered mountain village of Vermiglio near the Passo del Tonale, life follows its traditional patterns. Families sleep in the same room, animals have to be fed, the church and school are the center of everyday life. The effects of the Second World War seem to have passed the inhabitants by. But when an Italian soldier from Sicily, a deserter, arrives in the remote village, people's lives change and bring unrest to the entrenched structures. One young girl in particular suddenly finds herself caught between unexpected fronts. Director Maura Delpero draws on ethnographic elements for her quietly meditative film, reminiscent of Ermanno Olmi's masterpiece The Wooden Shoe Tree. Delpero combines tradition and modernity in a cinematic space that focuses on both the personal development of the characters and the community of the village. The four seasons structure the story and reflect the transition from an old to a new age. The arrival of the soldier expands the narrow horizons of the village and directs the gaze southwards, towards the vastness of SicilyDelpero also draws on biographical elements in what is only her second feature film and tells a precise story of love and motherhood, sexual temptation and remorse as well as intellectual curiosity. “Vermiglio” was a big surprise at this year's Venice Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize.