“Thanks for allowing me to discover the Via Francigena” is the phrase with which the presenter Alessandro Cattelan and the Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino salute each other after a conversation on the relationship between happiness and religion. In the background stands the Tuscan countryside along the Via Francigena, while some passing pilgrims stop to say hello.

The historic route defined by Sigeric was, in fact, the location chosen by the film-makers to record the second episode of “Una semplice domanda“, a mini-series already available on Netflix since 18 March which is quickly climbing the top of the charts. It develops in six episodes with speakers that are famous in Italy and abroad, exploring the meaning of happiness, but above all where to search it and where to find it.

“Does belief make us happy?” is the question that allows us to relate to the director from a new, particular standpoint, discovering memories of his grandparents and great-grandparents, Fellini-style reminiscences, rules and prohibitions, rituals, and the lifetime that flows past each of us in those last moments of existence. 

“I am a moderate walker, just as I am in everything else“, says Sorrentino as the video shots from above show us cypress trees, blue skies and puffy clouds – which take us back to the marvelous stages we covered in Tuscany last summer, during the relay march “Via Francigena. Road to Rome 2021”. If you want to jump back into those memories with us, just take a look at our photogallery.