Screening of “A World apart” by Riccardo Milani in UNESCO Room I

On January 15^th, our Representation launched its 2025 event season with the screening of A World Apart (Un mondo a parte) directed by Riccardo Milani. The film tells the story of a primary school teacher living and working in Rome who, tired of the teaching routine of the big city, decides to apply for a temporary contract in a small mountain village in Abruzzo. Interpreted by Antonio Albanese, the protagonist is forced to change his naive and idyllic perception of what living in a small mountain village really means and to experience the contemporary social and cultural challenges these areas are faced with, such as the threat of a school shutdown due to the lack of enrolments and, consequently, the risk of depopulation of the village. Our teacher will, however, receive the help of a tight-knit and determined community and of an obstinate and competent local teacher, interpreted by Virginia Raffaele.

Thanks to the inimitable directing style of Riccardo Milani, both light-toned and committed, the story efficiently describes and denounces a widespread phenomenon in remote areas of many countries, such as the depopulation of rural and mountain areas, that doesn’t offer many prospects for the future of their communities. The film gives an enlightening and hopeful reaction to this phenomenon by starting from the social core of a school in order to depict education as the essential connector of a community and the guarantee of a possible future. The screening gathered hundreds of people, among whom Delegation members as well as a more general audience. It was introduced by a very interesting conversation between the director and the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini.

Ambassador Liborio Stellino, Permanent Representative of Italy to UNESCO, opened the event by introducing the film, about which he recognised it had “the merit of highlighting the fundamental role of primary education for the survival of our communities and the building of a future of peace and harmony, in syntony with the values promoted by UNESCO.”