The Cozie Alps Parks at the Sestriere Film Festival

On July 24, 2024, the 14th edition of the Sestriere Film Festival was presented at the National Mountain Museum in Turin. The festival will take place at Colle from August 3 to 11. Alberto Valfrè, president of the Cozie Alps Protected Areas, was present to announce a collateral event organized in collaboration with the Park Authority.

The event is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6 at 9 pm at the Fraiteve cinema, with an evening dedicated to the Beth avalanche on the 120th anniversary of the tragedy that caused the death of 81 miners working in the mining complex located at over 2700 meters above sea level between the Val Troncea and the Vallone di Massello. Beyond the dramatic incident - this avalanche caused the highest number of casualties in the history of the Alps - the film "Le miniere del Beth, sulle orme di Pietro Giani" by Fabio Solimini Giani will be screened. The film narrates the extraordinary story of a pioneering mining enterprise started in the second half of the 19th century and continued for over 50 years.

The director will be present to tell the story behind the docufilm, co-written with Domenico Rosselli, a park ranger of the Cozie Alps Protected Areas, based on the reinterpretation of the memories of the entrepreneur Pietro Giani, which emerged from a family archive after the centenary commemorations of the avalanche. Thanks to reconstructions with period costumes and contributions from historians and experts, a story is told that has been overshadowed by the avalanche tragedy but speaks of the successes and contradictions of a truly unique event.

The role of the Park Authority, represented on stage by President Alberto Valfrè, is linked to the protection, recovery, and enhancement of the historical and cultural heritage as well as the natural heritage. The Beth mines have left indelible traces on the territory that now fully belong to the landscape of the Val Troncea and can represent a resource for tourism that respects the environment and traditions of the area.