It seems that when the American director Michael Cavalieri began his journey to discover his Sicilian roots in Limina, he started a new chapter in his life and that of many Italian Americans.
After the first film 'Ritornato' (www.ritornatothemovie.com) which concerns his personal journey to discover Limina, the town of origin from which his grandfather Agatino Alibrandi left, Michael was urged by many local communities and mayors to tell their story and that of emigration from their town.
So last year he returned to Sicily to shoot a new docu-film to tell the story of the sulfur mines and the conditions of the people who worked in the dark in the bowels of the earth.
It was inspired by the book “The Man Farthest Down” by the American author Booker T. Washington who dealt with the subject of slavery and which Michael Cavalieri ideally compared with the exploitation of workers in the mines.
And this summer, the new film 'La porta dell’inferno - The door to hell' was finally released, and now it is on tour in many cities of Sicily, starting with those in which the story takes place.
‘The door of hell tells’ the life of mine workers who were often children, once called 'carusi', and is set in the sulfur mines of Agirà, Sommatino and Floristella. The mines were active until the 1970s and today they have been transformed into a place to visit within the Grottacalda-Floristella Mining Park.
Some of those child laborers are still alive, and those who did not emigrate to the US to follow the American dream took part in the making of the film by symbolically carrying their grandchildren.
These generational meetings have shown in a poetic way and with a unique sensitivity, the different conditions of children over the years and the result of the many sacrifices made.
The living conditions of these young miners of the Sicilian sulfur miners have been told many times over the centuries by writers and documentary makers, such as the great Luigi Pirandello, all resident in Sicily. Instead, Michael Cavalieri's language brought a breath of freshness, his style is innovative as well as the perspective from which he looks at the stories of his beloved Sicily, that of an Italian-American who grew up in America who wants to pay homage to the history of many Italian Americans.
Michael Cavalieri Town Ambassador of Limina
This language is what is needed to be able to reach the younger generations and involve in new ties between Italy and America. According to Michael: 'This documentary chronicles the inspirational stories of some of the last surviving men who worked in the sulfur mines in central Sicily. These Marvel super heroes, as I call them, give us a deep insight into the slave-like conditions they were forced to work under by private ownership for many years up until 1963.
Their courage, will and determination is the centerpiece of this film as they discuss their families and relentless pursuit to keep them together. There was only one choice they could make if they wanted to keep their families together, it was immigration or the sulfur mines ... They all chose the sulfur mines. '
We think that the modern way respectful of traditions that Michael Cavalieri uses to narrative the history of Sicily - which in many parts coincides with the history of the American dream - makes him the perfect Town Ambassador for many communities and for this he has received honorary citizenship from his municipality of Limina origin.
Michael has also received awards from the NIAF - National Italian American Foundation and the Columbus Citizen's Foundation for his activity of mending ties between the USA and Sicily.
More news on web www.ritornatothemovie.com and Follow Michael Cavalieri on Instagram to be updated on the tour in Sicily @laportadellinfernofilm
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