The beauties of Salvador de Bahia told and collected in the wonderful report “Ax Salvador – Travel notes from the black heart of Brazil”, created by the Reggio journalist Domenico Grillone.
It will be presented today Wednesday 28 December at 6.30 pm at the premises of the “Postcards Club” association in Reggio Calabria, the documentary about a state in the northeast of the South American country, Bahia. Twenty intense days, a full immersion between sounds, images and music narrated by the journalist Grillone who catapults the spectators through the streets of Salvador and into the most characteristic places.
«I am honored to be able to present my reportage in the new headquarters of Cartoline Club, an extension of the Cartoline Rock association born a year ago and which already has a huge activity with over 140 cultural events in the area – says Grillone -. This is my fifth time going to Brazila land that I have loved and known for more than 20 years.
I tell the charm and greatness of a joyful people but also, I lay bare a complex situation from a social point of view that of Salvador, which starts from a very specific fact: 37% of black slaves deported from Africa to the Americas they were taken right to Brazil and most of them entered South America passing right through Bahia, from its port and then being taken to the plantations scattered throughout the country. Walking through the streets of the Bahian capital, one immediately grasps that cultural but, above all, religious syncretism that has made and continues to make Bahia a truly unique city in the world».
Among the images of hundreds of young people who live the splendid Bahia every daythe journalist films i social projects realized thanks to the Olodum school which has allowed many of these kids to become excellent dancers, choreographers, actors and musicians.
But also, it takes us inside Ricardo Miranda’s art studio, the Lacerda lift, the Modelo market which occupies the old customs buildingthe “Senhor Bom Jesus do Bonfim” basilica, the most venerated saint of Bahia, the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (Mam-Ba) and then, take a leap into the nature of Praia do Forte, a beach that hosts a project known throughout Brazil, “Projeto Tamar”.
«Nightlife is among the most interesting things in the capital: many young people, but also families, enjoy an ever-changing show every evening, you can breathe the true atmosphere of Salvador – concludes Grillone -. My travel notes are nothing but part of the infinite beauty of a land that I managed to capture for my people.
I bring home the big heart of Bahia, the authentic one of the roots, of those who live in this magical place, where the essence of spiritual life it’s not about calling yourself a Buddhist, a Christian, a Candomblecist, or whatever. The essence of spirituality, as a wise old man I met during one of my many walks along the seafront repeated to me, is to purify the heart, transform envy into generosity, darkness into light, selfishness into service, hatred in love. Ax Salvador!».
“Ax Salvador”, the great heart of Bahia in Grillone’s documentary Il Reggino