project

This isn’t a journey of kilometres or or miles,  but more of intention, and ideas..

Our journey in terms of time and space is a slow one year pilgrimage that takes us from Italy to Pakistan over  Africa and the Middle East  . We will be travelling  aboard a 4×4  truck with our two children Lusira (4 years old) and Giulio (2 years old)

The inspiration for this journey has come from many different sources and has taken shape  over time.In the last 12 years the occupation as documentarists mixed with our passion for travel has taken us to far away places, for long periods of time, mostly between Africa and Asia . After our last long journey of one year ,crossing Africa from north to south, and above all after the birth of our  two children Lusira and Giulio, we   felt a need on the one hand to  counterbalance  the ever more negative image of certain countries and populations  , and on the other, to give our children the chance to live different realities with wider horizons, thus creating the foundations for this new project.

By travelling through so called sensitive countries as a family ,we hope to be able to show simple realities that may help break down the many myths, and restore a little faith in human relationships, where  cultural differences can be  lived as enriching experiences and moments of exchange rather than hostility. The journey is intentionally slow to give time for taking photographs and filming  … and for living, leaving space for spontaneous encounters and  enjoyable changes of  plans and directions . We hope thus to capture some of the encounters and experiences along the way, using the journey as the common thread that links these different moments. We will be particularly concentrating on the theme of infancy and childhood . It is always fascinating how the bounderies of different language are so easily overcome by children who instinctively search for common ground and other vehicles of communication.We have often found that  the lack of material possesions, or ‘games’ (as intended in the western world) aids this process, taking away the stress of territory and ownership, and making the newcomer and interesting new addition to old games and offering the opportunity of creating new ones.Without being over romantic it is  a theme worthy of exploration,creating many interesting visual contrasts and contradictions….Food for thought.

The itinerary has been motivated by a wish to  take our children back to the country of origin of their grandfather Hamid, who left Pakistan in the 60’s to study in England. A backwards journey retracing his steps, a kind of reverse immigration, not in search of work or a new life, but of ones origins and cultural roots. We plan to spend some time with the extended family that has remained in Pakistan and that have still not had the occasion to meet the new members of the family.