In over 50 years, more than sixty films have been made in Basilicata, or Lucania as it was once called. Neo-realism, true stories, biblical films of awe inspiring spirituality, stories of universally recognisable monsters.
And then demons, portraits of the farming world, comedies all’italiana, costume dramas, dreams, miracles and magic. The world of great filmmaking has passed through here. For more than half acentury, this land of a thousand faces has continued to amaze Italian and international filmmakers alike with its delights and its haunting qualities. Basilicata is home to places and stories whose grandeur is well suited to the silver screen. The Sassi of Matera, the moon-like landscape of the ravines, the sun-drenched lands of Mount Vulture, the tiny villages studded into the mountainsides. The whole of Basilicata is a stage set. The scenery of Basilicata region, in the eyes of the seventh art, represents the soul of the South, it is perceived as a historical experience, as a theatrical setting which inspires authors, scriptwriters and directors. The vision of Basilicata projected onto the silver screen is impressed on the soul of the spectator. As in a single frame, time seems to stand still and remain uncorrupted in the land of Lucania. The mechanical device that plumbs the depths of this world and its innumerable details sees a reality that is transformed into a performance, where scenery and history shared common destiny. This land, with its great generosity, also gives spirit and breath to other places. Basilicata has always been a star, in the new and old grammar of the cinema. The power of its scenery is of itself a wealth, of diverse languages, of dynamic colours, of meaning and charm, of metaphors old and new, of ancient and mythical horizons. The spectator arriving here is taken on a journey through a universe of places, stories and emotions of great cinema. From Pier Paolo Pasolini to Francesco Rosi, from Dino Risi to Roberto Rossellini, from Luigi Di Gianni to the Taviani brothers, from Michele Placido to Giuseppe Tornatore, down to the modern day greats of Hollywood, with directors such as Mel Gibson and Catherine Hardwicke, Basilicata undoubtedly plays a leading role, as celebrated in Hollywood as it is in Cinecittà.
To come to Basilicata is to undertake a journey into the cinema, to discover new studios with ever changing sets: from the natural backdrops of the mountains and the sea to the small and larger urban ar- eas, from the rocky architecture to the sense of unpolluted places, from the various languages to the fresh air that is there to be breathed. Basilicata is a set without boundaries.
