Analogica Re/Collection
DEATH OF A MOUNTAIN

Screening + Talk
with Nuno Escudeiro
> 14.NOV h 17.00 ZELIG


In partnership with  
FAS -  Film Association Southtyrol
ZeLIG - School for Documentary
Death of a mountain
by Nuno Escudeiro
- medium hybrid - 2023 - 37 mins

A woman tells us about a mountain, a landscape almost indistinguishable from her own body.
Through archival footage, she entrusts us with the story of her life, her childhood memories and the reality of the ongoing war that will ultimately lead to the destruction of this place.

Death of a Mountain is a testament to the contemporary french-italian mountain border.
Throughout the film, we borrow the eyes of amateur filmmakers that portrayed this mountain ever since the invention of short-format film; we lean on the words of a woman who tells us of her mountain, her connection to this territory from her birth to its disappearance; we see the territory change through the passing of the years.
The woman dwells on memories of childhood to escape the present, a war that spreads on her mountain and on which she is forced to take part.
She feels betrayed by the idea that mountains live forever.
Nonetheless, she fights. Where do mountains go if we allow them to die?
DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Over past years, I have spent time in places – either working or traveling – that marked me beyond my stay. They became part of me, and I of them; their struggles, their smell, their textures, their culture and their soul.

Val di Susa, on the French-Italian alpine border, is one of them. I was so impressed by this rough land, whose commitment to political struggles ignites thousands of people throughout the world to fight alongside them.

I became a witness of the violence and persecution that has been taking place here, of this hidden war that seems to want to remain invisible.
Researching later in the archive Superottimisti in Turin, I revisited my experience of this place through amateur family films made there from the early 1930’s until the late 1980’s. This process of research led me to create a collective voice that stands for the many people I met in Val di Susa.

The archive led me to travel between reality and dream, past and future, which both surprises me and assures me that I found a meaningful way to tell this place. This is the story of a mountain that found its way into me and that I will carry within me for the rest of my life.
Nuno Escudeiro (1986) is a Portuguese filmmaker based in Bolzano, Italy. He studied at the
University of Aveiro, Portugal and attended ZeLIG - School for Documentary in Bolzano, Italy.
Nuno’s work focuses on politicized landscapes and the exploration of the idiosyncrasies of territories and populations affected by transformative events such as migration and climate change.

His first feature documentary The Valley was awarded the Emerging International filmmaker award upon its premiere at Hot Docs Toronto.
Nuno Escudeiro’s latest film, Death of a Mountain (2023), premiered at the IndieLisboa International Film Festival and was awarded the Anthropocene Muse award at Trento Film Festival and Best Portuguese Film award at the International Film Festival of Santarém.
His films have been presented at BFI London Film Festival, IndieLisboa, Uppsala Short Film Festival, Les Arcs, DOK.fest München, DocPoint Helsinki, Festival d’Avignon, the United Nations and other venues and festivals.