On 6 March 1953, mountaineer and film-maker Mario Fantin is in Cortina where, at the Grand Hotel Savoia, the IX International Sports Cinematography Competition is taking place. Fantin plays and jokes with friends and colleagues, perhaps to defuse the tension that precedes the awarding of prizes. There is fun to be had with the camera. We see several of them in the hands of film and mountain enthusiasts, who for once do not use it during climbs (but soon Fantin himself will take it to film the famous Italian expedition to conquer K2). The Cortina festival is not an exception, these are the years in which small-format film festivals are becoming increasingly important: sports and mountain films are among the most popular. The news that fills the front pages of newspapers all over the world reports the death of Stalin, but in Cortina and at the Tondi refuge they do not seem to be shocked by the 'great sorrow' that has affected millions. On the other hand, 'during his lifetime, the dictator showed neither understanding nor consideration for our country'. So declared Alcide De Gasperi to ANSA. On the contrary, L'Unità ends the news with this sentence: "eternal glory to the man who did more than anyone else for the liberation and progress of humanity."