"…a superior work: complete, honest, beautiful and courageous…a very meaningful work for our country, to tell the story of the Cinque Terre, but also to demonstrate how one can work to transform a territory of marginal importance to one of Italian excellence.”
–Sebastiano Venneri, Legambiente (League for the Environment), Italy
In today’s modern world, when nearly everything is done with the touch of a button, the residents of Italy’s picturesque Cinque Terre still make wine by hand, as their ancestors have done for over 1,000 years. They also welcome three million tourists annually into their homes, something their ancestors would have never foreseen. As the demand for local agriculture declines and is replaced by the tourists' need for hotels and restaurants, a modern-day fight for sustainable tourism begins to rise.
Cultural preservation and environmental balance teeter on the edge of survival as the seaside villages in this UNESCO World Heritage Site face an uncertainty marked by political change, natural disaster, and conflicting goals. VENDEMMIA documents the present day challenges of the Cinque Terre through the eyes of its extraordinary Ligurian residents, and also those standing on the outside, anxiously observing the area’s rapid fire transformation, and asks the essential question:
Is it possible to preserve the future of the Cinque Terre without sacrificing the past?
"What a marvel. I really enjoyed every second of this jewel of a film... It really brings the whole atmosphere and enchantment of Le Cinque Terre... My warmest congratulations to...[the directors]... Sharon Boeckle and Krista Lee Weller.”
Journalist/TV Anchor for TG5, Italy