Slovene politicians and media have labelled the film as an attempt to fabricate history, as it presents Slovene partisans (anti-Fascist fighters in WW II) as villains who killed Italian civilians.
Zmago Jelincic, the leader of a Slovene parliamentary party, urged Slovene officials to protest over the film, and asked the Italian government to apologise for this. Jelincic also expect of authorities in Serbia-Montenegro where the film is being made to proclaim Italian film-makers and producers as persona non grata.
The film is being shot in Montenegro and the leading role of a Slovene partisan who killed Italians and threw them into Karst pits known as fojbe is played by Serbian actor Dragan Bjelogrlic.
The Slovene media also accuse the film-makers of neglecting Slovene victims in the Second World War while exaggerating the number of Italian casualties.
The RAI has reported that the historical aspect of the screenplay was prepared by a history professor at a Roma university, Giovanni Sabatuci, and refuted criticism of political motives behind the film.