Some stories are deeply rooted in a specific place, yet speak to questions that know no borders.
This is the idea behind Those Who Stay, the new international version of our documentary series about people who have chosen to stay, or to return, building their lives around a strong connection with the places they call home.
Three documentaries, three journeys across Italy and one common thread: meeting people who are finding their own way to carry long-established practices into the present, adapting or reinventing them while remaining connected to the land, the sea and the communities around them.
From Italy to International Markets
Over the past few months, we have been working to bring Those Who Stay beyond Italy. The series has been fully adapted into English and is now available with English dubbing and subtitles.
For Kairostudio, this marks an important new step: we want to open our productions more widely to the international audiovisual market and start a new dialogue with broadcasters, platforms and distributors around the world.
Three journeys, one shared question
The series consists of three 52-minute episodes, available for licensing either as a complete package or as individual programmes.
The first episode, The Giants of the Sea – Where the Tide Turns, follows the Adriatic coastline and its centuries-old trabocchi, wooden fishing platforms suspended above the sea. Here, people find different ways to keep an inherited practice alive: learning, repairing, rebuilding or returning.
In The Wool Ways – Where the Seasons Still Lead, the journey moves inland, following the tratturi, the ancient shepherd routes that cross Italy’s southern plains towards the mountain pastures. Following a family of shepherds on their seasonal journey, the documentary explores what it means to continue choosing a way of life shaped by effort, responsibility and uncertainty, but also by a strong sense of freedom.
Finally, The Pastures Ahead – Where New Roots Take Hold reaches the mountains of central Italy. Here, a community has grown around a pastoral tradition that has travelled along these routes for centuries. Some have chosen to stay, some have arrived from elsewhere, while others left before deciding to return. Their different experiences reveal how an old way of life can also become a place from which to imagine something new.
Local stories, universal questions
Those Who Stay is rooted in Italian landscapes and traditions, but its focus goes beyond fishing, shepherding or cultural heritage. At the heart of the series are personal choices.
What does it mean to belong to a place today? What are we willing to leave behind to build the life we want? And how can we imagine a future without losing sight of where we come from?
The people we meet do not offer a single answer or a model to follow. Their stories explore different ways of finding a balance between freedom and responsibility, change and continuity, community and belonging.
These questions emerged along the coasts, paths and mountains of Italy, but we believe they can resonate much further afield. And so Those Who Stay is now beginning a new journey: bringing these stories beyond Italy and finding new audiences around the world.