Director's notes
Since I have discovered Erto a few years ago, I started wondering if and how such a ghostly place could contain any hope. I listened to the inhabitants’ memories, and their fervent attempt to create new opportunities for their native place. And a common thought emerged: time is running out for Erto.
‘Ballad of a ghost town’ is about people who can’t let go off the past. They cling on to what has been, in a struggle against time. Even when they try to build a future, it is by nurturing the ashes of the past, which is always present, in the shape of derelict houses and a huge dam. It is also a film about us. Erto as a metaphor of a far wider question: when is it time to call it off? When should we stop fighting? Should we move on or keep “hanging on”?
The Vajont film will have a strong cinematic approach and I want to tell the story of Erto in a dreamlike atmosphere. To the project is attached internationally acclaimed cinematographer Odd-Geir Sæther (whose credits include David Lynch’s ‘Inland Empire’), with whom I have collaborated with great success on the documentary ”Paradiso” (Winner of 15 international awards and nominated in more than 40 festivals around the world) and we will follow up with the same approach on this project.
