At a time when many people are reconsidering what gives life meaning, the choices at the heart of Those Who Stay feel especially resonant.

They are not an escape into the past, but personal attempts to build a life on different terms, accepting hardship, responsibility and uncertainty in exchange for belonging and purpose. These stories do not offer a single model to follow. They invite us to question what we value, what we are willing to leave behind, and what it means to build a future without losing sight of who we are and where we come from.

EP1 — The Giants of the Sea

Where the Tide Turns

The journey begins along Italy’s Adriatic coast, following the shoreline where the centuries-old trabocchi first took root and spread southwards. Suspended above the sea, these wooden fishing platforms connect the people to the landscape, family memories and generations of inherited knowledge.

As the sea continues to change, each person finds a different way to keep this inheritance alive by learning, repairing, rebuilding or returning. Their stories reveal that carrying something forward does not mean leaving it untouched, but accepting the uncertainty and transformation it demands.

EP2 — The Wool Ways

Where the Seasons Still Lead

The filmmakers follow the tratturi, ancient shepherd routes that cross Italy’s southern plains and lead towards the mountain pastures. Along these routes, the Carrino family prepare to lead their flock along a seasonal path travelled by generations before them.

As the filmmakers trace the history of transhumance through the landscapes and memories it has shaped, the Carrinos’ journey reveals what it means to continue a way of life whose future can no longer be taken for granted. Each departure brings fatigue, responsibility and uncertainty, but also a sense of freedom that makes the journey worth choosing again.

EP3 — The Pastures Ahead

Where New Roots Take Hold

The journey reaches the mountains of central Italy, following the ancient paths of transhumance through villages and highland pastures. Here, a community has grown around a pastoral tradition carried along these routes for centuries.

Some chose to stay, some came from elsewhere, and some left before choosing to return. Bringing new skills and ideas to an old way of life, they reveal how the past can become a place to rethink the future.