Entirely filmed inside Civitavecchia prison, being the prisoners both protagonists and co-authors, Fortezza is the reinterpretation of one of the most important novels of the XX century: “The Tartar Steppe” written by Dino Buzzati. Three soldiers arrive at a solitary military garrison which no longer serves any defensive function. Here time is at a standstill and is marked by strict regulations, power dynamics, engrained idleness and habits. Waiting in vain for an enemy that will not arrive, military officers are consumed by, on the one hand, the need to give their stay a meaning and, on the other hand, the need to resist the attraction this place holds on them. Those inside cannot get out, those who leave will never be completely free. Caught in a balancing act between fiction and documentary, a group of prisoners reveals the limits and humanity of the condition of incarceration by getting on stage.