Drink In ‘Low Lies The Land,’ Documentary Set In Luscious But Imperiled Winemaking Region Of Italy’s Piemonte – Toronto Film Festival

EXCLUSIVE: Low Lies the Land, a documentary set in the winemaking Piemonte region of Italy, may become the toast of Toronto. The film featuring a rich bouquet of families engaged in viticulture hosts its world premiere Friday at TIFF.

We have your exclusive first look at Emanuele Gerosa’s film in the clip above.

“Nestled among the misty hills and vineyards of Piemonte in northern Italy, generations of families have devoted their lives to the land, producing wine with knowledge passed down from parent to child for centuries,” notes a synopsis. “Their vineyards are more than a livelihood – they are identity, history, and the living remnants of an old, ancient Europe rooted in a proud and enduring craft.

“But the world around them is changing rapidly.”

The snyopsis continues, “Summers grow hotter. The rains rarely come. Droughts crack the earth, harvests shrink, and the work in the vineyards becomes more physically demanding with every passing year. Meanwhile, the younger generation is leaving. Sons and daughters move to the cities, searching for easier lives, reluctant to inherit the relentless labor and growing uncertainty of the family farms. The ageing winegrowers remain behind, stubbornly tending vines that no longer yield what they once did, carrying traditions that may disappear with them.

“Amidst growing uncertainty, a tempting offer arrives… A broker begins visiting the families with offers from wealthy but anonymous foreign investment funds eager to acquire the Piemonte’s historic estates. The money could solve many things: debts, insecurity, exhaustion, and fear of the future. But can financial gain outweigh the enormity of cultural lineage lost?”

Filmmaker Manu Gerosa, who hails from Northern Italy, spent six years on the project, including more than a year of research. Low Lies the Land is shot in the wide 2.39:1 format, “allowing the filmmakers to fully embrace the vast landscapes of Piemonte and the intimate relationship between the families and the land they cultivate.” That approach captured the eye of Thom Powers, chief documentary programmer for the Toronto Film Festival.

“It’s absolutely beautiful to look at,” Powers told us when the TIFF Docs lineup was announced. “Kind of an observational portrait of [several] winemaking families who have been working this land for generations and then now are asking themselves, what is the future? Does the younger generation even want this job? How is this job going to change with increasing droughts and temperature changes? And how does that affect grape growing?”

Powers continued, “Also inside this Garden of Eden, there’s a real life serpent in the form of a real estate broker who is visiting each family, representing an unnamed buyer, rumored to be a Chinese investment company that is offering a so-called ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for them to sell the land. So, on one hand, this film is like an escapist Italian travel fantasy, like the kind that Stanley Tucci makes TV shows about. On the other hand, it’s this slow burning suspense taking place over years. What are these families going to do between tradition or confronting the changes that are taking place? Really fascinating film.”

Low Lies the Land is a production of Real Lava and Imagine5. Producers are Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær, Harry Vaughn, and Fleur Engels. Executive producers are Laura DeVere and Chris Albert. Cinematography is by Alvise Tedesco; Giorgia Villa edited the film.

Animation is by Anders Ladegaard, with sound design by Peter Albrechtsen. Jonas Struck composed the original score. Dogwoof is handling U.S. and international sales.

In addition to Friday’s world premiere, the film will screen on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Friday, Sept. 18.