STUDENT WORK

The Last Skiers
Veronica Ciceri

Winner

Title:	The Last Skiers
Director:	Veronica Ciceri
Instagram Tag:	@goin_om
How does this production embrace sustainability?:	I made the documentary during the MA Ethnographic and Documentary Filmmaking. I had one month and a half to research, produce, direct and edit a film, all on my own - with zero budget. These are the kinds of situations where you have to get creative - and economically efficient. That’s how the production ended up being ecologically responsible as well. As a matter of fact, the film comes from my roots - I was born in a little town near San Primo Mountain, where the short was shot - but it grew into new branches, allowing me to explore the climate crisis from a different perspective. I soon realised how telling a story about mountains today is impossible without focusing on climate change. Sadly, global warming is happening faster in mountainous areas than in lowland areas: every additional degree recorded in the plains corresponds to +2°C in the Alps. It is not surprising that in the last few decades in Italy, 400 ski resorts have been abandoned or closed. However, politicians still invest millions of euros to rebuild the ski lifts in these places. This leads to a general feeling that a snow-free winter is likely to happen in the far future rather than something that has already happened. I felt that by focusing on the dramatic transformation that occurred one or more decades ago, I could address the climate crisis in an irrefutable way, making it more difficult to confuse weather for climate. Moreover, I thought that relying on the precious emotions of the last people who skied in these places was key to reaching a deeper emotional impact. The memories of the protagonists are a precious collective statement of a fragile mountain that becomes essential to protect. Thirty-three groups have been trying to raise awareness about the mountain’s ecological fragility and halt the project. I am happy that my documentary is now part of an impact campaign, and it serves as an educational tool for local schools in the area. In terms of execution and production, the project embraced sustainability in several ways. Firstly, I was mainly shooting by myself with no team members, meaning a smaller ecological footprint. Secondly, I only worked with natural light, resulting in less energy waste. Finally, being the equipment very light, it allowed me to reach several ski-resorts by foot.
Synopsis:	Many European nations in 2023 saw their warmest January day ever, with temperatures topping 20 °C in some areas of northern Italy. According to researchers, the amount of snowfall in the Alps has decreased by more than 53% as of 2023. These projections put the future of ski resorts located at low and medium altitudes, as well as those without artificial snow systems, in greater danger. The documentary delves into the topic through the stories of a generation that experienced locations in Italy where global warming occurred decades ago. The protagonists skied in the Como Lake area in the 1990s for the last time, before the ski resorts were eventually closed forever, together with the other 387 Italian ski resorts that were abandoned in recent years because of the climate crisis. Their collective memories are a precious statement of a fragile landscape that becomes essential to protect.