Located on the border between Italy, Slovenia and Austria, the village of Cave del Predil and its mine have a history stretching back a thousand years; between the 1950s and 1970s, it flourished thanks to progressive social policies, supporting over two thousand miners and their families.
The mine, like a mother, provided care and protection, from work to home and leisure activities. Moreover, being a miner was a status symbol, greatly admired by all. In the 1980s, changes in market conditions meant that mining was no longer profitable, and in 1991, following the Great Strike, the mine closed.
With the closure of the mine, the whole world that surrounded it vanished. Mother Mine was no more, and her children suddenly found themselves grown-up.
As if in limbo, the inhabitants who still remain in the village today are constantly trying to rekindle their sense of belonging and their identity. Now and again, they reinvent themselves and find ways to bring the mine back to life. In the gloomy darkness where roses do not bloom, they nurture the hope of recovering their lost world.