original title:
Azzurrina
directed by:
screenplay:
cinematography:
costume design:
music:
production:
distribution:
country:
Italy
year:
2024
film run:
80'
format:
colour
festivals & awards:
The movie traces the steps of Azzurrina, right where her legend was born, in the Montebello's Castle in Emilia Romagna region. Here she supposedly disappeared in 1375...and her voice reappears periodically to visitors. It all happened on the Summer solstice, June 21st 1375, in the Montebello Castle, in the province of Rimini, Emilia Romagna. Daughter of Ugolinuccio di Montebello, Guendalina was an albino girl. At that time, albinos were considered offspring of the Devil and were burnt at the stake. In order to prevent that, her mother used to dye her hair with a natural black colour that with time would discolour and leave a light blue hue ("azzurro", in Italian).
The tale of Guendalina was passed down verbally until 1600 when a collector of stories put down on paper what now had become legend. Guendalina was different, she was born with albinism, which in that era was a symbol of witches and demons and she would have ended up by being put to death at the stake. Her father hid her in their Castle and her mother dyed her hair in order to protect her. Unfortunately, the sunlight turned her dyed hair blue. Thus was born the myth of "Azzurrina". On 21 June in the year 1375, the ball of rags that Azzurrina was playing with ended up in a mound of snow. With a bloodcurdling scream, she disappeared into thin air, without ever being found. Every five years since then, Guendalina makes her voice heard. 2012 A group of kids decide to discover the secret of the castle.