Alessandro Cecconi

The Tannin Factory uncovers the forgotten history of a place that once defined the identity of an entire community. In the early 1920s, the small Tuscan town of Bibbiena became home to one of Italy&apos;s first and most important tanni...

La Fabbrica del Tannino

The Tannin Factory uncovers the forgotten history of a place that once defined the identity of an entire community. In the early 1920s, the small Tuscan town of Bibbiena became home to one of Italy's first and most important tannin production plants. Founded by the French entrepreneur Jean Varraud and a group of Florentine industrialists, the factory transformed the local landscape and economy. For decades, it provided work to hundreds of families, turning the scent of chestnut bark, smoke, and steam into the rhythm of daily life. The whistle of the factory marked the passing of time - a sound that meant both fatigue and survival.

Through rare archival footage, personal memories, and the voices of those who grew up in its shadow, the film reconstructs the rise and fall of the tannin industry: from its pioneering optimism between the wars, to its slow decline after World War II, when synthetic products replaced natural extracts and the great chestnut forests of Tuscany began to vanish.

But The Tannin Factory is not only a story about industry. It is a meditation on time, resilience, and transformation - on how places change, and how we carry their memory within us. Filmed where the factory once stood, now reborn as a neighborhood of homes, markets, and ordinary life, the documentary connects past and present in a single emotional thread. Through poetic imagery and intimate storytelling, it asks a universal question: what remains of the places that built us, and what do we choose to make of their ruins?

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La Fabbrica del Tannino

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