“Roots” (Italy)

Bulgarian premiere of the film “Radici”/ “Roots”, Italy, 2015, Felice Fornabaio, 24’

A folk holiday of rural Europe, where ancient arboreal and pagan rituals achieve a symbiosis with the Catholic religion, is celebrated every year at Pentecost in the town of Accettura, in the Basilicata region of Southern Italy. Originating from Lombard-related traditions, this arboreal ritual symbolizes the link between earth and sky while evincing a sexual union through the joining together of two different types of trees, but also represents the progression of nature’s cycles.

Key persons: Bosco Montepiano, Foresta Gallipoli Cognato, Italy