Calendar

There is a village, lonely among the mountains, isolated from the rest of the world. It is sad and grey, and oppressed by an unnatural silence. The only noise is the murmur of the river that comes down through the forest, or the rustling of the wind in the trees… and the sound of the bars and bolts and shutters that close up all the houses as night begins to fall.

It is a world where there are only human beings. The animals, all of them, have mysteriously disappeared. It is a world dominated by fear – fear of the dark, fear of the forest and fear of the mountains surrounding the village, fear of Nehi, the forest demon who roams the deserted streets at night. A fear of others, of those who are “different”. A world where there’s no room for people who ask too many questions. No one says anything about how and why the animals have left the village. The people prefer not to know, not to remember. Those who do remember, longingly – such as Almon the fisherman, who continues to call his dog, morning and evening, or the schoolteacher Emanuela who teaches her pupils the sounds of the animals, or Lilia the baker who puts out crumbs for birds that are no longer there – are made fun of and are considered a bit mad, afflicted with “nitrillo”, as are those who want to know the truth.
Going into the forest in search of the village’s mystery, Maya and Mati will find the place where all the animals have taken refuge – a marvelous garden where all are accepted, and all live together in harmony. House pets and wild animals, beautiful creatures and ugly beasts, pleasant animals and animals commonly hated or feared. Here, in the forest, Mati and Maya also find Nehi, the demon, and Nemi, the colt-child afflicted with “nitrillo”, who have learned to speak the language of the animals, a simple and essential language, free of hurtful words.

This is a fable for children and also for adults, a description of a sad reality onto which the utopia of a world without aggression or violence is projected.
Two spaces of the mind and of the heart, visualised as separate, distant worlds that come to life, through the voice of a narrator, from the evocative power of the words of Amos Oz.