On the Rock, On the Hill (2000)

Overview

In the Tuscany mountains, the Elfi have managed to preserve their marginal, community-based way of life, and form one of the largest and oldest groups of this type in Europe. Whether they first settled here for ideological reasons or to escape the rejection of a hostile society, they now lead a totally self-sufficient existence. Certainly, living conditions are difficult, especially through the harsh winters, but a harmonious solidarity and emotional serenity reigns among them. In the community of Casa Sarti, however, a serious problem is making itself felt. Parents of once young children are now seeing their offspring grow up wanting something more than the hasty education dispensed by the parental school. Things their parents rejected are now a source of fascination. Should the children be enrolled in a real school elsewhere, which would mean leaving the mountains and giving up an original way of life? Ultimately, what is at stake here is the community’s very existence.