Movie The people of Stromboli worship and fear their volcano

What is life like in the shadow of the volcano? Bernese director Miriam Ernst portrays people on Stromboli. A calm, passionate documentary.

The islanders say that Stromboli is the most intelligent volcano in Europe. The director was in the middle of filming "IDDU - Racconti dell'isola" ("IDDU - Island Stories") when the mountain breathed fire. That was in the summer of 2019, and soon nothing would be the same again.

As for the volcano, it erupted two hours before tourists were due to visit its craters, as if it didn't want to hurt anyone but wanted to raise its warning finger. The authorities also declared the highest alert level in June of this year. Dark smoke rose from the crater and a stream of lava gushed down the mountain into the sea.

Dominated by the volcano

What is life like in the immediate vicinity? The inhabitants of Stromboli, the Aeolian island north of Sicily with the active volcano of the same name, live in its shadow. They worship and fear it. Its whims control their destiny. The volcano - they call it "Iddu" ("He" in the Sicilian dialect) - has dominated their lives for centuries.

Crowds of tourists and thousands of adventure-seekers queuing up to the craters fill the coffers. However, an eruption as violent as the one that took place last summer also upsets an experienced island community. The force of nature confronts people with changes and questions about sustainability and mass tourism.

This is the subject of Miriam Ernst's film. The Bernese has visited the island time and again, as a child with her parents and now with her partner and child. First as a tourist. But she and her family made many contacts back then that have lasted to this day. She says she has grown older with her childhood friends from Stromboli.

Powerful images

She collected stories about these friends and their families over the years - and has now brought them together in a visually stunning film. "The people of Stromboli are in a balancing act: the major eruption plunged the community into a deep crisis, but at the same time represented an opportunity for a new beginning," Miriam Ernst told the Keystone-SDA news agency. "The volcanic eruption and the pandemic have led to a profound standstill on the island in recent years, which has prompted people to reflect and pause."

People on Stromboli pray to the volcano, ask it for advice - and argue with it. This includes Sebastiano, who is afraid that his girlfriend Valeria will not be able to cope with the tense situation at the moment. A wide variety of people have their say in the film. Including Pierpaolo, the store owner, who says: "We treat him badly. We are disrespectful, we pollute it because we let too many people go up there and allow them to take sand and stones with them." What they all have in common, however, is a great reverence for the unpredictable inhabitant.

A year on Stromboli

The film "IDDU - Racconti dell'isola" begins just before Christmas, leads into the New Year's Eve party ("there are even fireworks!" exclaims a woman in the restaurant) and takes us through a year on Stromboli. It was important to the director to show all seasons. Not just the high season, when thousands flock to the island (often for just a few hours). Or to the volcano. But also the winter, when 400 people live in the narrow streets, when ships can no longer dock because of the storms. Because that is also part of everyday life on Stromboli, "you live with all the elements," says the director, "not just the fire."

Many have left. That was Miriam Ernst's starting point: leaving and staying. Becoming and dying. The cemetery is important. And rituals. At the beginning, the documentary takes its viewers into the church.

After the major eruption in 2019, trekking to the crater was no longer permitted and mass tourism collapsed. As a result, Stromboli's younger generation began to look for alternative sources of income. They produce olive oil. Or they cultivate old and new plant varieties. The volcano has provided fertile soil.

The inhabitants of Stromboli are used to film crews. There is even a touch of Hollywood about the island: Roberto Rossellini shot a successful film there at the end of the 1940s starring his future wife Ingrid Bergman.

Miriam Ernst, and this may set her apart from others, has tried from the outset to capture the lives of the inhabitants (and the cats) of Stromboli. She has succeeded. The film radiates a power worthy of the mighty volcano.

*This text by Nina Kobelt, Keystone-SDA, was realized with the help of the Gottlieb and Hans Vogt Foundation.

www.filmbringer.ch/iddu-racconti-dellisola/

SDA