The Genius of a Place

THE GENIUS OF A PLACE tells the story of Cortona, a tiny Italian town catapulted to notoriety by being the backdrop for book then movie, 'Under the Tuscan Sun. The resulting fame accelerated the sleepy town's pace of change, upsetting its age-old equilibrium on many different fronts. During the four years of filming this documentary, the crew captured Cortona's citizenry as it began to ponder the hidden costs that had come bundled together with the town's economic boom. While residents welcome this new-found prosperity in many ways, they also see that its flip side is jeopardizing what has long made Cortona unique, beautiful, livable and sustainable. Cortona ultimately is a microcosm, allowing us to see similar, complex challenges faced by communities around the globe.