During the days of Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano 2021 we were visited by Alessio Salvini, director of “Highlands”, a short film in competition in the section “Earth’s Breathe”. In his film, which he screened for the first time at Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano, the undisputed protagonist is the mountain in all its forms that, transmitting its deepest essence through everything that characterizes it, manages to create a visceral bond with those who live it. Alessio told us, in a brief interview, about his experience at the festival, his impressions about the work he presented and the relative feedback from the audience.

Hi Alessio! You told us that this is the first time you’re screening your film “Highlands”, how do you feel about being here at Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano?

For me it’s nice to be at this festival, for the second time, also because it involves people and has a primary interest in the environment, in environmental issues that we talk a lot about lately and it’s an important thing. It’s a beautiful festival because the screenings take place in this particular place that is the Orsini Castle and also because, in my opinion, it gives artists and directors from all over the world, emerging or non-professional, the opportunity to show their works, all regarding the primary and very important theme of the environment.

What were your feelings about this first screening of “Highlands”?

“Highlands” has had many vicissitudes linked, obviously, to Covid-19, so the first screening is always… not the most beautiful or the most important one, but the one that stays with you the most and so it’s nice to be here with the first screening also for this reason.

How was you the response from the audience?

In my opinion, the response from the audience was excellent, even more than I expected. There were a lot of questions strictly related to the film, but also considerations about the emotions that people felt and in which I also found myself, so it was nice to respond and it was also stimulating to hear some questions from people who maybe don’t live the mountains as much as I do or who don’t live cinema as much as I do.

The festival mentions cinema and environment. What do you think is the importance of the relationship between these two areas?

I believe that the relationship between cinema and the environment could be fundamental and very important in raising people’s awareness of certain issues. Cinema is a fairly common interest, for everyone, and it could be an excellent vehicle to make people aware of certain situations and, above all, of the problems linked to the environment.

So, in your opinion, could cinema be an adequate means to bring young people closer to environmental issues?

I think so. I think that cinema can be a good vehicle to bring young people, but also people in general, closer to environmental issues. I think that nowadays, given the success of TV series or series in streaming on the various platforms, conveying information about the environment through cinema, through video can really be a way, perhaps one of the most valid, to make people aware of various issues and world situations on the environment and climate.

We greet Alessio and thank him for being with us. We are honored that he chose us to for the first screening of his short film and we hope that this will be the first of many occasions to be together and make cinema.