#italy #culturalanthropology #research #documentary #ethnographic #tradition #history #water #spring
The film "Springs of Salbertrand" is dedicated to the beautiful sight and sound of fountain springs in an Italian town at the border with France.
I was lucky enough to spend two months in this piece of paradise in October-November 2022. Despite the feeling of a touristy, exemplary facade, upon closer acquaintance, there is much to explore and discover in the town and its surroundings, filming layer by layer of the historical eras which the town passed through, or highlighting various cultural niches and spheres of life.
The town of just over 600 inhabitants has a lot to tell: the Frankish Road, the 16th century frescoes in the church and chapel, the historical bakery, the historical ice storage, the eco-museum, the traditions of everyday life and cuisine, the nearby ski resorts, including Bardonecchia, where the Olympics were held in Turin in 2006, about the TAV (high-speed railway to French Leon, which is planned to be built here and about the disadvantages that make the public so strongly opposed to this project), etc. But a lot has been told, is being told and, I am sure, they will continue to tell about all those topics.
I was struck by the historical attitude to water. Water here is the first inhabitant and the first builder. It was it that designed and brought to life this valley, it was it that influenced the possibilities of life, the development of agriculture, the style of life and recreational opportunities in the region.
And also it fascinates, leads to a state of light trance. When you look at the springs of Salbertrand, it’s like leafing through a memory book of the whole region and all its previous and present inhabitants…
