Michele Pastrello is a completely independent filmmaker, whose work we have already discussed before (indeed, back in the days of Coming Soon Television we introduced him by presenting one of his early horror shorts). Having long since returned to his homeland, he has continued his pursuit with mid-length fiction films of great interest, which have earned numerous awards, such as Inmusclâ and 1485 kHz (Eight Hours), produced with Lorena Trevisan in the role of actress. The pair’s new project, however, is the co-direction of a documentary, Fora Pal Mont (The Remaining Steps), which tells a forgotten female story and is enjoying considerable success on the festival circuit. Before telling you more about it, we want to show you the trailer.
Fora Pal Mont, a Forgotten Female Story of Strength and Courage
Fora Pal Mont (The Remaining Steps) tells the story of the sedonere, the women of the western Friulian Dolomites who, until the mid-20th century, left their mountain villages on foot and pulled heavy carts to work as itinerant sellers in the plains and in the cities of Northern Italy. The departures lasted weeks or months, the women covered extremely long distances, transported and sold wooden goods, and contributed substantially to the family economy. That work also offered the possibility of temporarily stepping outside village life, discovering different places, earning money, and gaining greater autonomy. Today, six women aged between ninety and one hundred years are the last direct witnesses of an experience long kept on the margins of public memory. From their testimonies emerge work, fatigue, travel, economic necessity, and the spaces of independence won through those journeys. Fora Pal Mont (The Remaining Steps) originates from encounters with these testimonies and with a territory that has undergone profound changes. The documentary is an independent production that interweaves oral memory and landscape to bring to light a female story that played an important role in the economic and social life of the Valcellina communities, yet left few traces in the official historical narrative. The trailer offers a first glimpse of the protagonists’ faces, the places, and the memories gathered in the film. After the journey started in 2026 at festivals, from mid-October the documentary will begin a new cycle of public screenings. In 2026 Fora Pal Mont – The Remaining Steps was presented, among others, at Le Giornate della Luce, Nuovi Mondi Film Festival, Edera Film Festival, Mario Puzo Film Festival, and the 14th ETNOfilmFest. It also received an Honorable Mention from the Jury at the Vittorio De Seta Award and a Special Mention at the 29th Mediterraneo Video Festival.
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