We made this video together with a group of Italian and other international friends: Oltre Confine – Beyond Boundaries.
On April 25th, we followed in the footsteps of the Italian resistance, of Jews and other escaping WWII refugees, and of the “spalloni” (smugglers) between the Italian and Swiss border, from Maslianico (Italy) up the splendid Valle Muggio (Switzerland) to the crest of Monte Bisbino and then down to Cernobbio and Lake Como (Italy). Our goals for the day were three-fold:
1) Go “beyond” the politics of April 25, a national holiday in Italy celebrating the country’s liberation from Nazi-Fascist rule. In recent years, however, many right-wing politicians have refused to celebrate it, denigrating it as a ‘communist’ holiday, and thus there is the risk that the actual horrific events of the war are glossed over or forgotten. It doesn’t matter what side you were on, the point is that war turns man into a beast, and the best way to prevent a repeat of such horrors is to actively remember what happened only 65 years ago;
2) Go “beyond” our interior limits, in the attempt to improve ourselves as individuals so we can better take on the outside world, and prevent arrogance and ignorance from holding sway;
3) Go “beyond” the conception of borders as walls which divide us, but rather as opportunities to enrich our lives.
We are saddened that a holiday which should celebrate the end of the war, which should bring the country together, remains highly politicized. Our goal is to reach out to the Italian youth and others, to describe the events of that period (and points 2) & 3)) in an appealing way. The first part of the video is mainly humorous, as we had a really fun time on the hike; the second part is more serious, as we concentrate on what actually happened there. We believe that combining humor with such a serious topic is a great way to penetrate a public (young and old) which might otherwise become disinterested, which is used to “instant gratification” in communication. Overall, we had the great fortune of enjoying a beautiful walk and picnic in peace, and we must never forget that not that long ago such an excursion would have been impossible.
The video is soon to come in a more serious version, since we were granted the rights to use the wonderful Klezmatics song “Gonna Get Through This World”.
