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The project is entirely based on real events and documented thanks to the memories of still living veterans. Miniseries narrates the important battles that led to the breaking of the German front in the central sector of the Gothic Line, in the upper Apennines between the provinces of Bologna, Modena, and Pistoia, prologue the end of the Second World War in Italy, with a look at the relationships between soldiers and the population.

Logo MOUNTAINMEN Linea Gotica 1945

The miniseries, dubbed in Italian and English, is structured around 3 Episodes with an average duration of 40 minutes each.
Each episode is developed around a specific incident of the events unfolded in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines between January and April 1945.
The project follows Company G of the 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment since its arrival in Italy until the end of the war.

Two short documentaries are planned before and after the miniseries:
TLogo MM project History+Memorieshe first documentary narrates from establishment of the 10th Mountain Division until its arrival in Italy, providing the viewer with a historical panorama regarding the Division since its formation, which took place
between end of 1941 and mid-1942, the training, which lasted over two years. The documentary is the introduction to the miniseries.

Logo MM project Memories+territoryThe second documentary is a Then and Now of people, countries and battlefields. Photographs and films compared between 1944/45 and the present day as well as memories of soldiers and civilians. The documentary is completed by photographs of the main monuments to the 10th Mountain Division in the Apennines, all including geotags

Episode 1:
The episode follows the Company from Gavinana until its mobilization to the front, when it reached the bivouac areas near Monte Belvedere.
The episode also tells of the raid/attack conducted by the unit on Monte Spigolino, on February 5, 1945 follows the Company from the attack on Monte Belvedere to Hill 1027, a summit near the Emigrants Lady Oratory in Ronchidoso, from where the unit repulsed numerous counterattacks throughout the night between 20 and 21 February 1945.

Episode 2:
The episode begins by following the company on Hill 1036, a hill near Jola di Montese, located about half mile from Monte della Torraccia, to the rear of Gaggio Montano. where suffered to many losses and on the morning of February 24, and from were the Company was sent away from the front for a day.
After that the episode follows the Company to Campo Tizzoro, where it was sent for a brief rest.

Episode 3:
The episode follows the company during the attack on Hill 909, a hill near Castel d’Aiano, on the 10th Division’s bloodiest day: April 14, 1945.
Company G is remembered for being the unit were served John D. Magrath, a young soldier of only 20 years who was killed in the day of attack on Hill 909. He attack by himself 4 German foxhole, 2 with MG42 machine guns, took prisoners or killed some enemy by one of the previously captured MG42 machine gun.
Magrath was the only soldier of the 10th Mountain Division to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II. The episode follows the company until the end of the war.

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
The objectives of the project are two:
- The first, of a historical and cultural nature, is mainly aimed at passing the story on to young people of the new generations so that it remains alive, fixing in images the memory of the past through the personal memories of veterans.
Soldier, who were then boys mainly 19/24 years old, who came to fight in Italy away from home and loved ones, in contact with people of completely different cultures and customs, in humid foxholes dug in the ground, cold and surrounded by rain and snow.
The risk of dying at any moment from enemy artillery or in combat, the excruciating experience of losing a companion changed and marked their life forever.
Memories and nightmares which many veterans report accompanied them for years, well beyond the return to their homeland.
- The second objective is to raise awareness and value the territory where the fights recounted by the miniseries took place, providing viewers with an well-informed motivation to visit these places.

The project is also a tribute to all those who fought and gave their lives for our freedom, especially the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division during the Second World War.

PRESENTATION
Direction and story

Luciano La Valle
Luciano studied at the Accademia Artisti in Rome, a national school of cinema and acting.
He wrote, directed and starred in short films set in World War II.
In 2019, he received an award for the short film “The Failure of the War” at the CineFuturaFest in Rome, a national cinema competition.

Production
Il Trebbo Cultural Group.
Non-profit association based in the municipality of Montese.
Since 1992 its has managed the historical museum of Jola di Montese and is interested in local history and culture through books and cultural initiatives

Executive producer
Andrea and Giuliano Gandolfi, Guglielmo Mattiello

Logo museo Memorie d'ItaliaHistorical consultancy
Respectively Deputy Director of the Jola di Montese museum and Curators of the Memorie d’Italia collections.
They have written two books, In my father’s foxholes and footsteps and Gothic line bloody red, concerning the history of the 10th Mountain Division of the United States in Italy in 1945, which contain original color photographs and memories of soldiers and officers, as well as a recent publication concerning the Brazilian Expeditionary Force and its participation in the Second world war in the Central Northern Apennines.

Location
Jola di Montese Museum 1940s kitchen room and bedroom, Monte Belvedere (Lizzano in Belvedere), Hill 1036 and Rochidoso (Gaggio Montano), Monte della Torraccia and Monte Terminale (Montese), Monte della Spe, Monte Castellana and quota 909 (Castel d'Aiano), Monte Spigolino (Fanano), Campo Tizzoro and Prunetta (San Marcello Piteglio).

Historical reenactment groups
OVERLORD ’44 LHG – FUBAR - ULTIMO FRONTE 1945 - LA CROCE DI FERRO

WW2s Military vehicles:
GMC, Command Car, Willys, Dodge

Master of arms  
Galliano Sfx - Roma

Pyrotechnic effects
Benassi - Castel d’Aiano
Jola team

Shooting
Between March 2022 e March 2023,

Promotion and release
May 2022 - promo trailer - Watch the video
December 2022 - teaser - Watch the video
April 2023 - Official trailer -Watch the video
June 11, 2023 - Screening by invitation - Screening in English-US
June 17, 2023 - Italian premieré at Montese (Modena)
June 17, 2024 - United States premieré at Fort Drum
June 20, 2024 - Screening at Chicago



 

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