On the GO stage, we will present Gabriele Cecconi’s historical and multi-voiced novel La città delle cento ciminiere (Giunti). For the occasion, the author will converse with Andrea Mazzoni, with readings by Alessandra Zampini.

The Book:
On the morning of July 30, 1900, the city of Prato, one of Italy's most important textile hubs, awakens paralyzed with horror: King Umberto I has been assassinated in Monza, and the killer, anarchist Gaetano Bresci, is a native of Prato. However, not everyone in the city is quick to condemn such an extreme act of rebellion. Among them is Pisacane Bresci, the regicide’s cousin, who raises his children with a strong belief in anarchist ideals. His sons, Gracco and Libero, share their father’s unruly hair and defiant nature, determined not to yield to injustice and to fight for a better world.

At the edge of the Bresci family’s sharecropped land lies the Presa estate, owned by Ademaro Magni, who dreams of becoming an industrialist. After his death, his son Donatello realizes that dream, establishing one of the city's most successful wool mills and aligning himself with fascism. In stark contrast, the farmer Dante Gori—an admirer of the great poet and proud bearer of his name—rejects the ideology imposed through arrogance and violence for himself and his daughters.

As the dramatic years of fascism, World War II, and the Resistance sweep through the industrious city of Prato, collective and individual memories intertwine. The rhythm of daily life, marked by the ceaseless clatter of looms and the smoke from the chimneys, is shattered. The fates of the Bresci, Magni, and Gori families become intricately connected by love and a long-buried injustice that poisons their relationships across generations.

The Author:
A filmmaker and writer, Gabriele Cecconi has taught Literature and History in high schools, serves as the artistic director of the Mauro Bolognini Film Festival, and is the president of the Alfafilm Cultural Association. He also teaches at the Anna Magnani School of Cinema. Cecconi authored Il linguaggio cinematografico, analisi comparata tra testo cinematografico e testo letterario (2004) and the novel Oltre il cancello (2009). Among his numerous films and documentaries, he wrote and directed the feature films The Seminarian (2013) and The Anarchist Who Came from America (2019), both recognized as "art films" by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage.