Michelangelo Frammartino

Young speleologists in Turin organize their October 1961 campaign to map the Bifurto Abyss in Italy’s Calabrian region. Europe’s deepest cave, the third largest on Earth, reaching seven hundred meters in depth, the Bifurto Abyss appears like a yawning cavern in the unnamed shepherd’s neighborhood. Cross cutting between Abyss’ nearby, isolated village and the cave explorers’ tent camp, Il Buco, meaning The Hole, casts its spell with few words, the sounds of nature defining the vividly vibrantly environment. This meditative, deeply moving film is pure poetry.