Past Film/Video | Contemporary Screen

Il buco

(The Hole, Michelangelo Frammartino, 2021)

Columbus Premiere

Two white, horned mountain goats peering over moss-covered rock at the opening of a cave. There is foliage hanging down from the top of the cave on the right, and the background is a bright blue sky with a rocky mountain on the left.

Descend into one of the deepest-known caves on Earth and explore breathtaking scenes of natural life at this screening of the award-winning masterpiece Il buco.

Michelangelo Frammartino, visionary filmmaker of Le quattro volte (The Four Times, 2010), returns with another almost wordless film capturing mystic and mysterious landscapes. Il buco is based on the true adventures of young speleologists who in 1961 explored the bottom of Europe’s deepest cave (as known at the time), discovering a world that few living creatures had ever experienced. The expedition goes unnoticed by nearby villagers except for an old shepherd, whose isolated life is woven into the story.

As Reverse Shot magazine noted, "the resplendence of the cave sequences" captured by Frammartino and veteran cinematographer Renato Berta "must be seen to be believed." With nearly every shot a marvel, this film—winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Venice Film Festival—encapsulates the sublimity of the natural world in a way few others have. (93 mins., DCP)

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"A film that should be seen on the biggest screen possible.…A beautiful meditation on life and man’s relationship with nature and mortality. I had a transcendent experience."
Chloé Zhao, Oscar-winning director of Nomadland
Two white, horned mountain goats peering over moss-covered rock at the opening of a cave. There is foliage hanging down from the top of the cave on the right, and the background is a bright blue sky with a rocky mountain on the left.

Il buco, image courtesy of Grasshopper Film.

Four people in a rocky cave lit by the minor hats they’re wearing. They have rope tied around them as if to descend.

Il buco, image courtesy of Grasshopper Film.

Four people at the bottom of a cave. Two are in an orange raft in a small pool, and they are lit by a spotlight from above. The other two are in the foreground on rock at the edge of the water.

Il buco, image courtesy of Grasshopper Film.

Grassy landscape with a campsite in the foreground featuring a white horse, a covered truck, a clothing line, and several tents. There are horses in the background and tree-covered, rocky mountains above them.

Il buco, image courtesy of Grasshopper Film.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Cardinal Health

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family

National Endowment for the Arts
Ohio Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
L Brands Foundation

The Columbus Foundation
Adam Flatto
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
Bill and Sheila Lambert

Nationwide Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Mike and Paige Crane
Axium Packaging
CampusParc
CoverMyMeds
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
President Kristina M. Johnson and Mrs. Veronica Meinhard
Nancy Kramer

Larry and Donna James
Lisa Barton
Johanna DeStefano

PNC Foundation
Bruce and Joy Soll
Jones Day
Alex and Renée Shumate

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Past Film/Video

Il buco