Author: Redazione AEVF

There are still a few days left for video makers, walkers and travellers to take part in the 2019 edition of “Gargano DOC – Documentary School on Paths and Cultural Routes“, to be held from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th July 2019 in the former Sansone Barracks at the Umbra Forest and in various locations of the Gargano National Park.

The School, part of the activities planned for the second edition of “Mònde – Cinema Festival on the Paths“, was created and organised by “MAD – Memories Audiovisual of Daunia“, while the training activities have been entrusted to Istituto Luce-Cinecittà.

There are five training modules planned:

• Documentary direction by director David di Donatello, Director of the Archivio Luce Historical, Roland Sejko;
• Documentary editing by Luca Onorati, Documentary editor of Istituto Luce-Cinecittà;
• Documentary production by Maura Cosenza, Head of documentary productions of Istituto Luce-Cinecittà;
• Research, access, use of archive materials and the Luce-Cinecittà Historical Archive, by Cristiano Migliorelli, Istituto Luce-Cinecittà sales manager;
• “Constructors of Paths”: pitch with walkers, pilgrims, cultural operators and institutional representatives to share stories and experiences and provide an exhaustive picture of the map of Paths and Cultural Routes present in Italy. In collaboration with “Monte Sant’Angelo Francigena“.

The aim of the School will be to provide participants with the theoretical, methodological and technical skills necessary for the creation of short travel documentaries/reportages that narrate Italian Paths and Cultural Routes.

Interested parties may submit their application proposals by sending a motivational letter to info@mondefest.it with the subject: CANDIDATURA GARGANO DOC 2019.
The deadline to apply is 12.00 on Saturday 6th July 2019.

For more info, download the complete announcement on the Mònde website.

From 24th June to 20th July 2019, the “IL PALAZZETTO SULLA FRANCIGENA” guest house will promote this initiative for pilgrims travelling to Formello.

Pilgrims who collect at least 15 plastic bottles along the Via Francigena will benefit from the project.

The project aims to help keep our Francigena clean, encouraging over-night stays for pilgrims and travellers, with a discount of 5.00 € with the Pilgrim Passport.

The 2019 edition of the European Festival “Vie Francigene, Cammini, Ways, Chemins 2019” is dedicated to the theme “The feminine way. Sensitivity in Human and Natural Landscapes”. One experience this year is that of Cristina Menghini, pilgrim, president of the non-profit association Walking on the Via Francigena and environmental hiking guide.

The interview – Cristina Menghini: With more than 30,000 km of road under your feet

“Can you cage a bird that wants to fly free? The Road for me is like wings that give me the opportunity to live life fully, in a continuous search for an encounter with myself and the beauty of the world. It’s a great love that, like the North Star, directs my thoughts and actions towards achieving an increasingly light and sustainable lifestyle. It is my instrument of free action, free and conscious action, in my aim to improve myself and the reality that surrounds me. And it could be for everyone!

The Road is in fact a great experience that involves every aspect of being, both physically and intimately; a process of transforming the heart, the mind and the spirit, which occurs through the effort and acceptance of our own limits, an encounter with the diversity of our neighbours and the emotions experienced at each step. A curious and attentive step, ready to get involved and keen on contact with nature, sharing and comparing, but always with respect.

Walking slowly for several hours every day in contact with nature, is an activity that not only trains the body, but frees the mind and raises the spirit. As our eyes get lost in the beauty of our surroundings, our hearts calm down, relieving stress and bringing us back to a state of serenity. Walking immediately becomes a way to “switch off”, making us return to our time and to the spaces nature gives us. Step by step, our focus shifts from the problems of a hectic and conditioned life to the appreciation of small gestures, while our minds allows us time to think and reflect, thus stimulating new ideas and points of view. Our hearts lighten the sufferings of the past and focus on the emotion of the present, while the beauty we encounter along the Way begins to vibrate in our soul.

Over time, the Road makes us slow down and regain that lost dimension, made up of smiles and helping hands, of sincere emotions and gratitude, of simple and shared gestures, and lightness and essentiality. A “modus vivendi” that once found should no longer be lost; inevitably generating a positive change in our existence, and consequently, in that of the people we visit.

How many people have returned from their journeys wanting to rethink or transform their lives? For me, the Way was such an enlightening experience that it became not only one of my main tools for personal well-being but also a great opportunity to serve others.

My work as a hiking guide and as a “walking promoter” aims to promote and share the benefits of this incredible experience as an exceptional instrument to get to know the self and a world that can be transformed into a great opportunity for reflection, for inner dialogue and personal growth with the consequent improvement of our psycho-physical well-being and lifestyle.

Think about it for a moment. Can you imagine living without something that changed your life for the better?”

On 1st July, at the CIVITA Association in Piazza Venezia, 11 in Rome, a press conference will be held to present the 9th edition of the European Festival “Vie Francigene, Cammini, Ways, Chemins 2019”.

The initiative, under the artistic direction of architect Sandro Polci, has been promoted by the European Association of Via Francigena Ways (EAVF), in collaboration with CIVITA Association and numerous other partners.

This year’s edition, dedicated to the theme “The feminine way. Sensitivity in Human and Natural Landscapes”, will take place from June to November. The press conference will be attended by numerous speakers after greetings from Giovanna Castelli, Director of Civita Association and Massimo Tedeschi, EAVF president.

The 2019 project is even more pilgrim oriented, creative and shared by the many good will entities who have created events along the Via Francigena and in the ever-growing network of national and European routes. There are, as is tradition, a variety of appointments – from paths to cultural routes, from studies of merit to village festivals, and they will all enhance the landscape, its natural changes and cultural identities with many material cultures: craft work, rituals, parties, sharing and conviviality. All this from a feminine perspective, that is, a new sensitivity towards walking, sharing, promoting and thinking!

Download the invitation of the press conference below