Stefano Bellotti

For decades, wherever people have fought against injustice, they have sung “Bella ciao.” It is said to have been the anthem of Italian partisans fighting against fascism in the Second World War, but there are those who doubt the truth of this. The origins of the song are unclear. Was it a folk song favored by exploited workers in the rice fields in Italy? The accounts of various speakers are richly illustrated with archive material.

Ten years after Mondovino, his analysis of the increasingly standardised wine production in France, wine expert Jonathan Nossiter picks up the thread again and shows what it means to be rooted in the soil you're working on. During walks through the vineyards and relaxed gatherings with a group of alternative Italian wine growers, he trades experiences and arguments. What looks like a bucolic paradise, where intelligent people produce wine according to time-honoured and organic methods, is actually revealed to be a battleground. The DOC association, which is supposed to look after the interest of independent vintners, promotes winemakers who produce vast amounts in a standardised quality; and the agricultural industry with its hygiene regulations excludes traditional methods of production. The only thing saving the landscape from being totally destroyed is affluent foreigners using the old vineyards as summer holiday homes.