A MOUNTAIN PORTRAIT

FILM PROJECT IN COLLABORATION WITH ELISA POL [Nerval Teatro]

first premiered in frame of the interdisciplinary performance evening DREAMER, in frame of INEQUILIBRIO FESTIVAL 2022, hosted by Teatro Armunia, Castiglioncello (It)

“I believe that I now understand in some small measure why one goes on a pilgrimage to a mountain. The journey is itself part of the technique by which the divine is sought. It is a journey into Being; for as I penetrate more deeply into the mountain’s life, I penetrate also into my own. For an hour I am beyond desire. I am not out of myself, but in myself. I am. To know Being, this is the final grace accorded from the mountain.”
– Nan Shepherd, THE LIVING MOUNTAIN

The mountains, an archaic powerful environment.

Existing as if beyond time; guardians of this world. A soul landscape.

What is the fascination with this environment that some feel?

This film is a collaboration and meeting point of the two performers, two women with a special relationship to the mountains. It is inspired by the meaning that this environment has for them personally.

It is a poetic testimony about time spent outdoors, with an, at times, humouristic note. This work mostly driven by a deep love to their environment, equally opens up a window onto the (daily) challenges and tasks and the danger the mountains can also bring.

It is a collage of personal stories overlapping with reflections and anecdotes of other female wanderers and mountaineers, such as Nan Shepherd (The Living Mountain) and Rebecca Solnit (Wanderlust).

Landscapes have a language of their own, expressing the soul of things, lofty or humble, which constitute them, from the mighty peaks to the smallest of the tiny flowers hidden in the meadow’s grass.
– Alexandra David-Néel