BRAZIL, 1888 The South American state decrees the abolition of slavery. For the landlord aristocracy there is a problem: how to replace slaves with a workforce capable of accepting living conditions on the plantations? The attention of the coffee barons focuses on Italian farmers in particular Veneto and Lombardy. To attract them a subsidized emigration will be organized, with free travel for the whole family to their destination; between 1887 and 1902 it will involve 900,000 people. In the plantations, Italian farmers will find appalling conditions of misery, disease and oppression. They will look for an alternative in the “colonies”, tropical forest plots granted by the government. Here they will build their barracks as pioneers, among natural dangers – from beasts to parasites – the hostility of the natives, yellow fever and isolation.