Video : Seven days in Basilicata

In September I was invited to spend a week in Basilicata, Italy with six other bloggers and filmmakers from the USA, France, Netherlands, South Africa and Italy. We set out to record our impressions of the region and make our own films about the experience.

Matera

Our journey started in Matera, where we were greeted warmly by the community who are rescuing the Sassi from abandomnent and ruin.

Matera seen from a cave across the gorge… this is 15s on the 10-20mm, with some LED glowsticks I brought from home for shots like this.

This is not a church! It’s one of a series of cisterns to which Matera and the Sassi owe their success- each cistern holds tens of millions of litres and provided water in even the leanest times.

Opening night music!

Barile

Winemakers of Barile! We stopped in Barile to sample some wines and have a look at the centuries-old processes used in winemaking- we were given a look at some cantina, the cellars where the wine is matured in carefully controlled conditions. The wine I sampled was still fresh, sweet and cloudy- the wines produced here are usually only consumed locally, so if you want to taste some you’d better get going!

San Fele

San Fele, where the locals are volunteering to build walks through the lush mountain valley.

Pietrapertosa

Pietrapertosa is famous for the Vollo del’angelo, a 120km/h, 400 meter high horizontal zipline that stretches across the valley. The food and hospitality were as spectacular as the views. This is a must-return part of the world for me!

Sunrise in Pietrapertosa

Locals are as proud of their traditions as anwyhere else in the world- oxen were a huge part of agriculture and remain part of village life.

Maratea

Maratea is a stunning, bustling Mediterranean port town that is overlooked by tall mountains- this is a sunset captured as part of my timelapse sequence.

The Digital Diary crew! Mark, Hailegh, Erica and Caspar standing, then Chris (me!), Matthew and Luca sitting.

Craco

Craco is a ghost town abandoned since 1963 because of dangerous subsidence in the clay soil. I shot this still as part of a timelapse sequence.

Clay from mudslides creates an almost martian landscape near Craco. Part of a timelapse.

Pisticci