Missus

RUNNING TIME: 70 min.
AUTHOR: Massimo Garlatti-Costa

Description: On 28th of August 1974, during a religious celebration on the mountains of Friuli, ten priests ask their archbishops to perform mass in their own language: Friulian. Their request was denied and this prompts the priests to leave a document of “requests” on the altar of the church in protest. This event causes an ideological fracture with the Church of Rome and sets forth the birth of “Glesie Furlane”, the Friulian Church. This documentary follows the life of the last living priests of Glesie Furlane who, 40 years later, still claim their right to use their own language, both in liturgy and daily life. Their struggle is twofold: not only against the prejudices of a civilized society that refuses to use its minority language in everyday life, but also against the restrictions of the clergy of Rome, that even prohibits the Friulian priests to translate the Missal in Friulian. Missus tells the story of a 40 year-long struggle to obtain a real and tangible affirmation of dignity and rights: the language as a vehicle for freedom and self-expression, especially for those minority communities for which the language represents a real surviving tool.