MUT is the short film made by artist and director Giulio Squillacciotti and produced by GAMeC as part of Thinking Like a Mountain. Premiered in November 2024 on the occasion of the second edition of the MADE Film Festival, promoted by the Bergamo Chamber of Commerce, through the experience of two young mountain boys and their parents, the film recounts the cyclical nature of life in the mountain pastures: a daily routine marked by actions and moments that are repeated from dawn to dusk. The protagonists are thirteen-year-old Dario, who is entrusted with the task of managing the pasture, and his little brother Omar, who interacts with the animals with spontaneity and tenderness.
Right from the title (which simply means “mountain” in Bergamo dialect), the role of the mountainside—which, when found all around, shapes the rhythms and experiences of those who inhabit it—is clear. In the film, however, it remains in the background of the actions of the young protagonists: the square format of the short film leaves room for shots that enclose portions of it, guiding attention to details and interaction between family members, and those between them and the animals.
A stylistic choice that, rather than limiting its visual breadth, steeps the viewer in an intimate perspective, which forgoes open, descriptive fields so as to recount the deep connection between the mountainside and those who live on it.
The animals, herdsmen, and ultimately the hikers, along with their brightly colored clothing, move in and out of strictly fixed shots, almost as if they were windows suddenly opening onto scenes of life in the mountain pasture. The actions are filmed with a documentary lens that seems to emphasize the cyclical nature and their being the same every day. Even the soundtrack, which blends human voices with natural and animal sounds, seems to evoke a narrative based on discreet observation, carried out on tiptoe as if to interfere as little as possible.
The short film highlights the contradictions inherent in a coexistence that is both respectful and utilitarian, and lets us perceive the mountains as a complex ecosystem in which divergent identities and interests coexist and come face to face with one another.
On the one hand, the relationship with animals, presented as deeply respectful, is intertwined with the reality of productive farming, inviting reflection on the relationship between possible modes of exploitation and care, cohabitation of natural spaces and the need for mutual adaptation. On the other hand, tourists—with their sporadic approach to the mountains—traverse the landscape as foreign bodies, emphasizing the contrast with the industrious and silent everyday life of the family in the mountain pasture. This inevitable confrontation becomes a representation of the different ways of experiencing and perceiving the mountainside: a space of work, rootedness and belonging, or a place of leisure and temporary escape.
MUT, together with Paraflu by Michela de Mattei & Invernomuto, and Migratori by Agnese Galiotto, will be presented as part of a tour—held in collaboration with Lab 80 film—which will travel around the Bergamo valleys from February to May 2025, accompanied by a series of workshops, meetings, and events for adults and families alike.
Screening Calendar:
February 23 / Branzi, Val Brembana
MUT by Giulio Squillacciotti
March 15 / Gorno, Val del Riso
Screening of all three films
April 5 / Vedeseta, Val Taleggio
Screening of all three films
May 11 / Averara, Val Brembana
Migratori by Agnese Galiotto
May 18 / Gromo, Val Seriana
Paraflu by Michela de Mattei & Invernomuto
Throughout the third cycle of Thinking Like a Mountain, the spaces of GAMeC will host a series of conversations with artists Michela de Mattei and Invernomuto, as well as Agnese Galiotto and Giulio Squillacciotti. Conceived as an open dialogue between disciplines, these meetings will also feature speakers from a range of fields: from design to illusionism to ornithology. The intent is to explore how seemingly distant languages may come together in a common reflection on the relationship between human beings and other living species.
The calendar of events will soon be made available from gamec.it.
Biographical Notes
Giulio Squillacciotti (Rome, 1982) is an artist and filmmaker. His work is based on the investigation of possible narratives, the adulteration of real events of a historical-anthropological nature, cultural apexes and the way traditions take on new forms through changes in context. He studied Medieval Art History in Barcelona and Rome, and went on to earn a master’s degree in Visual Arts at the IUAV University of Architecture in Venice. He was one of the artists of the Dutch Pavilion at the 2018 Architecture Biennale and a Fellow Resident at the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Maastricht in 2018–19. In 2020, he won the Italian Council and the Netherlands Film Fund with a film and publishing project on the fictitious end of Europe called “What Has Left Since We Left”, and recently received PAC (Plan for Contemporary Art) funding for a cross-border film project in the Susa Valley (Piedmont). He represented Italy at the 2021 edition of Artists’ Film International. He is currently engaged in the development of a fictional feature film co-produced by Italy, Ireland and Poland, which has so far been awarded funds by MEDIA Creative Europe and Screen Ireland.
