Cavallerizzo

The inhabitants of the village of Cavallerizzo in southern Italy speak an ancient Albanian dialect. They are the direct descendants of immigrants who fled Albania when the Ottoman army invaded during the second half of the fifteenth century. After more than 500 years, the community is again displaced, when a devastating landslide in 2005 results in the forced evacuation of the town. Only Liliana Bianco, a retired teacher, refuses to move. She and her son Raffaele are now Cavallerizzo’s only inhabitants. The sublime Calabrian landscape forms the backdrop to this documentary by Ines von Bonhorst and Yuri Pirondi, which explores the consequences of the landslide on the community and its commitment to keeping the ‘Arbereshe’ culture alive.