23.01.24, 20:30, Banditi a Orgosolo (1961)

In the heart of Sardinia's rocky, desolate mountains, Michele watches over his flock of sheep with his younger brother Peppeddu. One day, three strangers appear, wanted for stealing pigs and closely followed by the carabinieri. Michele is falsely accused of stealing and murdering one of the gendarmes. To escape prison, he decides to flee deeper into the mountains in the company of his brother and his animals.

Fascinated by Sardinia and its inhabitants, whom he had previously immortalised in two short documentaries in 1958, Vittorio De Seta decided to shoot his first feature film there two years later. At a time when Italian filmmakers were increasingly turning away from neorealism, De Seta continued to build on its legacy. His direct, uncompromising direction embraces the harshness and ruggedness of the landscapes, but also captures their beauty. The political and economic pressure on the local community, the black-and-white photography and the non-professional cast make Banditi a Orgosolo a rural cousin of Vittorio De Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (1948).

Restored in 4K in 2023 by The Film Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna at the laboratory L’Immagine Ritrovata, based on the original negative. In collaboration with Titanus. Funded by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.