The Gran Paradiso Film Festival discovers the spirit of the place and the spirit of ages of the Gran Paradiso
Today, in a press conference at the Regional Library of Aosta, the twentieth edition of the Gran Paradiso Film Festival has been launched with the event "Genius loci and genius saeculi del Gran Paradiso" from July the 15th to the 17th in Rhêmes- Notre-Dame, Aymavilles and Ceresole Reale.
The press conference was attended by Italo Cerise, President of the Gran Paradiso National Park; Carlo Vigna, Director of the Department of Tourism, Sport, Commerce and Transport of the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta; Luisa Vuillermoz, Director of Fondation Grand Paradis and Marco Xausa, delegate of Montura.
"This is an event throughout three days to rediscover the spirit of the place and the spirit of ages of three areas of the Gran Paradiso, each one with its own history, its own soul and its way of development. The key is to grasp the essence through experiences of meeting with these communities, territorially related, but deeply different from one another", explains Luisa Vuillermoz, artistic Director of the Gran Paradiso Film Festival.
The three-day program provides a common format with various initiatives to enhance the specific characteristics of each municipality. The whole man-mountain relationship will be told in order to enlighten the specific character of the three locations of the Gran Paradiso and its inhabitants. In the program it is planned the meeting with a representative person of the territory, which embodies the spirit of the place and of the ages, enhancing the sense of belonging and roots. In Rhêmes-Notre-Dame (on July 15), Milena Bethaz, ranger of the Gran Paradiso National Park, will recount her path of rebirth after being hit by lightning.
In Aymavilles , on July 16, the mountain guide Abele Blanc will lead a walk in Ozein, his home village, telling about the journey that took him up to all the 8,000 metres in the world, even giving a short demonstration of climbing on the natural stage of a rock wall. On July 17, in Ceresole Reale, Piero Chabod, ranger of the Gran Paradiso National Park, and Bruno Bassano, responsible for the scientific Research Department of the Park, will guide the audience to discover the history and the natural features of this area in the heart of the oldest Italian National Park.
All the stories will be performed by the actors of the “Teatro Instabile of Aosta”, which will offer three art acts related to the content of the three events.
Afterwards, the public can discover an expression of the local savoir faire, visiting an entrepreneurial successful history case and some local producers: the Hotel Granta Parey in Rhêmes-Notre-Dame, la Cave des Onze Communes in Aymavilles and, in Ceresole Reale, the farms of Domenico Aimonino and Simone Frasca, cheese producers in Valle Orco. All participants will have the opportunity to taste, at dinner in one of the restaurants that have joined the initiative, a menu that reflects the spirit of the day.
At 21.00 there will be a special screening of the Gran Paradiso Film Festival.
In Rhêmes-Notre-Dame, the directors Anne and Erik Lapied , after the screening of their film Le clan des renards - Italian premiere - will be present at the movie theatre to talk with the audience about the film.
The director Federico Santini and the famous mountaineer Daniele Nardi will converse with the public of Aymavilles about their experience on Nanga Parbat illustrated in the documentary Verso l’ignoto, absolute premiere.
In Ceresole will be screened, attended by the director, In another world of Joseph Péaquin, which chronicles the life of a ranger in the Gran Paradiso National Park.
The 20th edition of the Gran Paradiso Film Festival will continue with many other events during 2016 and 2017, and it will end with the screenings of the International Competition and the CortoNatura section in July of next year.
The Festival is organised by Fondation Grand Paradis in partnership with Valle d'Aosta Autonomous Region - Department of Tourism, Sport, Commerce and Transport; Compagnia di San Paolo; Fondazione CRT; Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism; Gran Paradiso National Park and Montura.
All the details of the program and reservations for “Genius loci and genius saeculi del Gran Paradiso" are available on the internet websites:
www.gpff.it.
The event "Genius loci and genius saeculi Gran Paradiso" is part of the third edition of the Festival "Turin and the Alps", promoted by the Compagnia di San Paolo. The Festival aims to be a popular event on the Alpine region and is structured into various artistic forms, purposing to relate the city with the mountains - Turin with its Alps - and consolidate the network of institutions and individuals capable of making the highlands as protagonists of a high quality culture. From July 15th until the 17th,, nearly 100 initiatives, many of which are selected following the competition launched in late 2015 by the Compagnia di San Paolo, will enliven Turin and the Valleys, bringing out a mountain prospect away from cultural stereotypes and rhetoric.