The Film
Documentary | 2026 | 76m & 52m
A group of Sicilian-Canadians return to the ancestral village they reluctantly left 50 years ago.
Il Paese: The Village follows émigrés through pomegranate orchards, crumbling courtyards and Greek temples as they reconcile with the past, revealing a complex range of perspectives on the experience of migration. Blending vérité footage, intimate scenes of daily life and evocative archives, the film immerses viewers in a rarely seen Italy: a typical agricultural village whose bereft residents are struggling with decades of depopulation and have never recovered from the departures of their loved ones.
As rural villages worldwide empty and migration grows, Il Paese reveals the hidden costs of an immigrant community’s success—the gains, losses and sacrifices behind the prosperity achieved. A tender exploration of displacement, enduring roots and the sorrow of those left behind, Il Paese speaks to and about diasporas everywhere.
Featuring
The day after she was married at 22, Angela Lo Dico left the village in which she was born. A year later, in 1967, she and her husband, Gaetano, both working two jobs to survive, sent their firstborn, Francesca, to Joppolo to be raised by family until they could become financially stable in Montreal. The 2019 trip marks the first time in over two decades that mother and daughter are in the village together. Each hopes to heal the wounds of that long-ago separation.
Dr. Carmelo Lo Dico, a kidney specialist and founder of a series of dialysis clinics that provide treatment free of charge, is Angela Lo Dico’s brother-in-law and Francesca’s uncle. His three brothers who emigrated to Montreal helped to fund his medical education in Italy. Angela’s husband was a florist, and the other two were mechanics. Carmelo explored immigrating to Canada himself, but stayed in Italy out of concern for his sickly nephew.
Luigi Greco and Carmela Lo Dico raised their niece Francesca alongside their son so her parents could make a life in Montreal. Their son died at age 11. Francesca is like a daughter to them. They eagerly await the visitors from Canada.
Agostino Spataro is a former parliamentarian and journalist. He is the author of several books on the history of Joppolo, as well two short-story collections chronicling small-town Sicilian life.
Angelo Portella was the mayor of Joppolo from 2013 to 2023. His leadership focused on innovative ways to revitalize the village. His father immigrated to Venezuela and returned to live in Joppolo after he saved enough money to buy land.
Angela Lo Dico and Francesca were accompanied on their trip by 30 relatives from L’Associazione Joppolese di Montreal, a cultural association of emigrants from the village. Joppolese began to settle in Montreal in the 1950s and the community grew to 325 people, the world’s largest Joppolese population outside of Sicily. They established the association to organize festive gatherings, bocce and billiard tournaments, an annual sugar shack outing and a sister celebration of Joppolo’s revered Madonna. In 2019, the association coordinated the return-to-roots trip to Joppolo. Participants included Angela’s sister, Rita, who had not been back since she left in 1978, and her nephew, Johnny, who went for the first time.
The Montreal Joppolese who appear in Il Paese: Antonina and Rosario Contrera, Maria D’Agostino, Carmelina Giglione, Antonina and Angelo Infantino, Salvatore Infantino, Angela Lo Dico, Emilia and Louis Lo Dico, Zina and Stefano Lo Dico, Francesca Lo Dico, Carmela Marchica, Assunta and Joe Marchica, Giuseppa and Joe Marchica, Natale Marchica, Anna and Manuel Jose Pimentel, Rosie and Johnnny Pistone, Teresa Pistone, Rita and Enrico Roselli, Giulio Sacco, Lilla Sacco, Luigia Sacco, Francesca and Angelo Spataro, Michelina Visciotti.