Tuscany Atmosphere in Margreid: Casòn Hirschprunn served as a filming location for the IDM-supported feature film A Stroll to Syracuse. Starring Charly Hübner and featuring many local talents both in front of and behind the camera. Follow the set visit.
With a satisfied smile, Paul sits at a small table outside a restaurant. He sprinkles a generous amount of Parmesan cheese over his piping pasta alla puttanesca, twirls bite after bite with visible enjoyment, and gazes dreamily at the warm stone facades glowing in the midday sun. This is exactly how the audience will later experience the scene.
In reality, however, it is already the fourth plate of pasta that actor Charly Hübner, playing Paul Gompitz, has eaten that morning. His hunger has been satisfied for a long time now. But director Lars Jessen wants another angle and calls for yet another take. Hübner takes it in stride. There are certainly worse things than eating Italian pasta on a beautiful autumn day while occasionally sipping a glass of South Tyrolean wine.
Tuscany and East Germany
For more than two hours, the courtyard of Casòn Hirschprunn in Margreid has been filled with tripods, lights, and microphones, as well as the voices of the crew, carefully discussing every detail and repeating scenes again and again. In the film, the historic estate will appear as “Ristorante Da Giuliano” in Tuscany. In the final cut, little more than a minute from the entire morning’s work is likely to remain.
Written by Heide and Rainer Schwochow, the screenplay (Pandora Film production, co-produced by Florida Film) is based on Friedrich Christian Delius’ novel The Walk from Rostock to Syracuse and is set in the late 1980s. Inspired by a school reading assignment, Paul, who lives in the former East Germany, dreams of travelling to Italy one day. Since legal travel is impossible, he decides to escape. He tells no one about his plans, not even his wife Anne, played by Lina Beckmann. After many hardships, he finally crosses the Austrian-Italian border. Yet the Italy he imagined as paradise does not bring only positive experiences.
Calm Perfectionism
The atmosphere on set is one of patient anticipation. The noise of a helicopter drowns out every conversation. Then the church bells of Margreid begin to ring – it is eleven o’clock. As if that were not enough, the sound of a harp drifts in from a neighbouring building. Filming must be paused once again. Some of the more than twenty crew members pass the time joking with one another, while others use the break to carefully cover the tattoo on Hübner’s forearm. Nearby, director Lars Jessen stands beside the camera, wearing a cap and keeping his hands in his pockets. Calm and observant, he watches everything unfold. The team knows, however, that behind his relaxed attitudeis a perfectionist with a sharp eye for every detail.
Border-Crossing Scenes at Jaufen Pass
Zita Pichler uses the pause on set to prepare for departure. The South Tyrolean Art Director has been engaged in local filming and supports Production Designer Jenny Roesler. Their next destination is Jaufen Pass, where over the coming days, the crew will shoot the scene in which Paul crosses the border to Italy. For these sequences, among other transformations, the Enzian Hut will become a farmhouse where Paul finds shelter. “We’ll also be filming at Lake Fleckner,” reveals Pichler, hoping for continued good weather.
Local Talents in Front of and Behind the Camera
Several South Tyrolean actors were also involved in the scenes at Jaufen Pass, including Bettina Manfrà from Sarntal, Lukas Spisser from Val Gardena, Penelope Frego from Bolzano, as well as Karmen Weiss and Michele Montalto. Already completed were the scenes featuring South Tyrolean actress Anna Unterberger. Known for her role as the quick-witted detective Anni Sulmtaler in the Austrian ORF crime series Steirerkrimis, Unterberger plays Ulrike, a woman from West Germany. “It’s a small but meaningful role that helps make Paul’s journey possible,” she explains.
Behind the scenes, too, numerous local film professionals are contributing to the production, some of whom will accompany the crew all the way to Sicily. “You’re really well equipped by now,” remarks executive producer Fee Buck during a break in filming while speaking with the IDM Film & Music Commission, which supported the project. Buck works for Cologne-based Pandora Film, the company originally founded by South Tyrolean producer Karl Baumgartner (1949–2014). Producer Christoph Friedel emphasizes the importance of local support, including financial incentives: “Without them, projects of this scale would hardly be feasible anymore,” he says. This remains true even though the production is making a significant effort to work sustainably, with most of the crew travelling by train, forgoing catering services, and staying in simple accommodations.
Scene Change
Shortly before noon, the courtyard of Casòn Hirschprunn becomes a hive of activity. Equipment is dismantled and packed away. Charly Hübner is sent to makeup and wardrobe—time to change clothes, touch up the makeup, and continue filming indoors. What will be filmed next? The producer remains discreet. She reveals only one detail: this time, South Tyrol will stand in for Sicily. The interiors of the estate will appear on screen as a villa on a Mediterranean island. Whether Paul ultimately finds the happiness he is searching for there is something audiences will have to discover for themselves when the film premieres.