Water Communities

The documentary intertwines stories and testimonies from the Basilicata region, from the towns of San Martino d'Agri, Tito, Picerno, and Terranova di Pollino, reconstructing the deep bond between inhabitants and water, the source of life, work, and identity. From the mill and the fulling mill, once the driving forces of an economy based on water power, to the vegetable gardens still irrigated today by the river's canals, the story unfolds as a choral narrative in which past and present dialogue.
It begins with the commitment of a cultural association which, faced with depopulation, reacts with participatory actions aimed at enhancing the valley of the mills and promoting slow tourism. Then emerge the stories of a set designer who reconstructs the fulling mill by collecting the memories of the elderly, and of a mountain guide who builds a model mill to save knowledge and stories from oblivion.
Finally, the common thread of water accompanies the community of market gardeners, guardians of a living relationship with the river. Thus, memory becomes action and heritage is transformed into a resource of identity, embodying the spirit of the Faro Convention.