They Call Me... Calümer

An unsung Italian hero reminisces about his 50-year career in mountain rescue

Giuseppe Orlandi is an alpine rescuer who has lived and worked in the shadow of The Grigna, a massif in the province of Lecco, for over fifty years. As a member of the XIX Lariana Delegation of The CNSAS Lombardia mountain rescue group, he has saved hundreds of lives. Filmmaker Achille Mauri traveled across the beautiful yet treacherous mountain face to profile Orlandi—known to many as “Il Calümer”—in the terrain that the Italian knows best. The heroic deeds that Orlandi has carried out over the years have, for the most part, only been acknowledged by the people he has saved. With the release of this documentary profile, Mauri wants to shine a spotlight on the courageous work of Orlandi and other voluntary mountain rescuers like him.