The extraordinary adventure of the young members of the Piedmont Speleological Group who, having already explored all the caves of Northern Italy, changed course in August 1961 and went South to explore other caves unknown to man.

During the economic boom of the 60s, Europe's highest building is being built in Italy's prosperous North. At the other end of the country, speleologists visit the Calabrian plateau in the untouched Calabrian hinterland. There, the young conquerors explore one of the deepest caves in the world, 700 meters below Earth, that no one had ever reached the bottom of. The intruders' venture goes unnoticed by the inhabitants of a small neighboring village, but not by the old shepherd of the Pollino plateau. His heart and soul soon intertwine with the group's journey. IL BUCO chronicles a visit through depth and darkness to discover the unknown, where time and space wither away.—Doppio Nodo Double Bind

During the economic boom of the 1960s, Europe's highest building is being built in Italy's prosperous North. At the other end of the country, young speleologists explore Europe's deepest cave in the untouched Calabrian hinterland. The bottom of the Bifurto Abyss, 700 meters below Earth, is reached for the first time. The intruders' venture goes unnoticed by the inhabitants of a small neighboring village, but not by the old shepherd of the Pollino plateau whose solitary life begins to interweave with the group's journey. Another work of nearly wordless organic beauty that touches on the mystical, IL BUCO chronicles a visit through unknown depths of life and nature and parallels two great voyages to the interior.—Coproduction Office

In many Western European countries, the 1960s were characterized by rapid economic growth and a change in social consumer behavior, including in northern Italy. But in the mountains of Calabria, at the southern tip of the Italian boot, time seems to have stood still. A group of cave explorers from Piedmont set off here to explore the Abisso del Bifurto in the mountains of the Pollino massif. While the shepherds of the region continue to live their familiar everyday lives as generations before them, the explorers descend further and further into the unknown earth. In the process, they come across one of the deepest and most hidden caves in the world.—Arte