On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, the Liceo Scientifico XXV Aprile in Portogruaro hosted the first event in the programme of the project POSEIDONE: Biodiversity and Territories on Stage, an initiative organised by VEGAL to raise awareness among young people on the richness and fragility of lagoon ecosystems.
The event involved around 35 students and teachers, offering them a unique opportunity to reflect on the dynamics linking man and nature, tradition and change. The star of the event was the documentary Boreana by directors Emanuel Toffolo, Jordan Carraro and Leonardo Mizar Vianello, selected at the Caorle Film Festival 2024 and winner of the Audience Award.
The documentary, set in Burano, the Northern Lagoon of Venice and Lio Piccolo, guided the youngsters on a journey between memory and the present, recounting the lives of a fisherman, a painter, a glassmaker and an artist, four characters deeply and viscerally linked to their island. ‘Salinity in the blood of the Buranelli’ is the metaphor with which the authors describe this indissoluble relationship between the community and the lagoon. The protagonists of the film, often speaking in their Venetian language, offered insights into the transformation of the lagoon and its evolving traditions. Massimo Tagliapietra, a fisherman, recounted the change in his trade: 'Many types of fishing over the years have died, they don't do them any more, like the cappalunga. Many fish have also disappeared, such as the ‘marsionetti’ and ‘gò’ (gobies) and flounder. I appreciate the natural noises of the island, when the tourists left the island towards the evening," Mariarosa Vio, a local artist, says in the documentary, describing an island changed by mass tourism, and the resilience of the local community. For the painter Andrea Tagliapietra, the relationship with the lagoon is symbiotic: 'The relationship with the lagoon is a possibility of escape, inspiration and codification of what the lagoon is. When you walk in the mud you live it, the matter is what I draw the materials for my art from".
After the screening, the debate moderated by Giovanna Tinunin of the cinema club Estate Violenta gave voice to the authors of the documentary, who talked about the behind-the-scenes of the production and their journey by boat to the festival in Caorle, a four-hour experience along the coast, where the landscape changes radically within a few kilometres. Throughout 2025, the POSEIDONE project will continue its journey between nature and culture, with new appointments dedicated to biodiversity and the enhancement of the territory, visit the website to stay updated on upcoming events.
