Filming has started The Avalanchethe film that tells the story of the Rigopiano tragedy, which occurred on 18 January 2017. Directed by Elisa Amoruso, the film will soon be available only on Netflix and brings to the screen the story of the hotel hit by an avalanche, with 40 people trapped under tons of snow and 29 victims.
The cast sees well-known names such as Andrea Lattanzi, Maria Chiara Giannetta, Edoardo Pesce and Barbara Chichiarelli, alongside Lorenzo Aloi, Carlotta Gamba, Mario Sgueglia, Francesco Di Leva and others. The Camfilm production, led by Camilla Nesbitt and Pietro Valsecchi, will film between Abruzzo, Lazio and Alto Adige, attempting to recreate the dramatic atmosphere and race against time of the rescue efforts.
View this post on Instagram
The tragedy behind the film: 29 dead
We all remember the events that the film will cover. On 18 January 2017, a huge avalanche broke off from the slopes of Gran Sasso and swept away the Rigopiano Gran Sasso Resort hotel in Farindola, Abruzzo, moving it ten meters further downstream. There were 40 people inside, including guests and staff, and 29 of them lost their lives. Rescue efforts were hampered by blocked roads and extreme weather conditions. Only 11 managed to survive.
The long legal battle
A tragedy that profoundly affected Italy and still today remains an open wound in the collective memory but also a long legal battle. After almost ten years, the judicial process has seen various levels of judgment and different verdicts: in the first instance trial in Pescara, on 23 February 2023, five convictions and 25 acquittals were received, with sentences imposed on provincial road officials and the then mayor of Farindola. In the second instance, on 14 February 2024, the Court of Appeal of L’Aquila partially modified the verdict, recognizing new responsibilities for institutional figures and confirming other sentences.
The final decision arrived in December 2024: four sentences became irrevocable for official omissions and forgery in public documents, while the Supreme Court established that the disaster could have been foreseen and prevented, ordering a new appeal trial for ten defendants. Only on 11 February 2026, the Court of Appeal of Perugia issued a new sentence: three convictions and two acquittals, closing a long and complex judicial chapter.
The thin line between memory and spectacularization
Since its announcement, the film has generated mixed reactions. On the one hand, the choice to transform Rigopiano into a fiction film can turn the spotlight back on the drama, the heroism of the rescuers and the errors in the management of the emergency. Indeed, cinema has the power to keep memories alive and make new generations reflect on the consequences of natural tragedies and organizational shortcomings.
On the other hand, the doubt remains about the appropriateness of this project: are we really ready for yet another spectacularization of a pain that is still so recent? The transformation of tragic events into entertainment risks reducing victims and survivors to symbols of dramatic tension, losing the measure of respect and delicacy that memory requires.
Elisa Amoruso, in her seventh film as director, will have to balance historical truth and cinematic language, trying to avoid sensationalism and restore dignity to the victims and their families. It will be interesting to see how the story with actors, screenplay and direction will deal with the emotional tension without betraying the memory of those who lived through those tragic moments. The Avalanche it therefore represents a double challenge: keeping memory alive and, at the same time, preventing cinema from becoming just an emotional consumption of other people’s pain.
You might also be interested in:
