- [Announcer] Funding for "Amore nel Sannio" was provided by UNICO National, (bright music) the Sons of Italy Foundation, (bright music) the Italian Sons and Daughters of America.

(bright music) Additional funding was provided by the following.

(bright music) For more information or to order a copy of this program, visit www.bongiornoproductions.com.

(no audio) (no audio) (no audio) - [Marylou] As everyone knows, there's a love story at every part of Italy.

(musician singing in foreign language) - [Marylou] Let me show you one Italian love story that we accidentally discovered.

(upbeat music) It all started the day we left Palermo to take a one-hour flight to another part of the Mezzogiorno to shoot a film in an area of the Campania region called the Sannio.

But as we were boarding the plane, it was announced that all flights to Naples were canceled.

It seems that because of recent earthquake tremors, Naples Airport's radar system was not working properly.

So we had to change our plans and we made our way to the Port of Palermo to take a 10-hour ferry to Naples.

And then at 8:00 PM, our boat pulled out of the port.

(bell ringing) (upbeat music) (bell ringing) (upbeat music) So after an excellent night's sleep at 6:00 AM the next morning, we knew we were near Naples because we saw it.

Vesuvius.

Vesuvius, which in 79 AD had destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and caused the deaths of about 16,000 people.

Some mountains are formed by tectonic plates colliding and causing uplift, while a volcanic mountain is formed by the deposition of many layers of hardened lava.

Vesuvius is one of three large, active, and dangerous volcanoes in the Naples area.

And yet, as dangerous as these volcanoes are, they've played a significant role in shaping the area's history and economy.

Being filmmakers, we recall the scenes in Roberto Rossellini's 1954 movie, "Journey to Italy."

- There's the Vesuvius.

Ever since the eruption of 1944, there's been a period of calm.

Ah, but the temperature's beginning to rise a little though.

That white back there behind the hill... (birds chittering) - [Marylou] To the left of Vesuvius, you begin to pull into the Bay of Naples.

We have read Goethe's 1787 "Italian Journey" book where he describes the Neapolitan as having a happy disposition who without trouble or anxiety trusts to tomorrow to bring them what today has been wanting.

And consequently, the Neapolitan lives on in a lighthearted, careless sort of life with momentary gratification, moderate enjoyments, a passing sorrow, and a cheerful resignation.

We wondered if the cheerful resignation was from Neapolitans living in the shadow of Vesuvius and the potential for total annihilation at any moment.

So anyway, the boat docked and we drove out of Naples and headed northeast to the Benevento area.

Now, while the Campania is made up of five provinces, the Sannio area is about the same as that of the province of Benevento.

So as we made our way to Benevento, the Vesuvius receded into the distance and the rest of the Campania's agricultural region came into view, reminding us of "Journey to Italy."

- Do you mind if I drive?

Afraid I'll fall asleep otherwise.

- All right.

(engine purring) (door clicking) (horn honking) (engine purring) (feet clopping) (door clicking) - Did you see that?

It's incredible the way some people drive here.

- [Marylou] As we drove through the Campania countryside, we noticed hills made of tufa rock.

This rock is formed from volcanoes erupting and depositing ash, which then turns into hills made of tufa rock.

Some of these hills were actually being mined to make tufa building blocks.

Nearby, we passed the 1750 aqueduct, which was built with this block.

The town where we were staying at was high in a hill made of tufa rock.

And as this photo shows, you can see the tufa rock of the hill that the houses are built on.

And many of the houses are also built with blocks carved out of the tufa rock.

This hill town is called Sant'Agata de' Goti, and it was like a fairytale with small streets made of stone, very romantically curved out of sight.

Some of them ending in piazzas with fountains and running water.

Many of the buildings were mostly 17th-century structures.

Remember, these inhabitants built on hills for protection.

Also, building higher up was often healthier.

Minimizing your contact with the stagnant waters below meant that you were exposing yourself less to diseases such as malaria.

For us, being this high meant that everywhere we looked, there was a beautiful vista.

(lively music) (lively music continues) The Sannio is famous for its fairytale-like vistas.

The Sannio is also famous for a couple of other things.

It's famous for its pizza.

The Campania region is the birthplace of pizza.

(pizzaiolo speaking Italian) - [Marylou] Here, making pizza is almost considered a religion.

(pizzaiolo speaking Italian) (metal scratching) - [Marylou] The Sannio is also famous for its prosciutto, pottery, and of course its wines.

The wines here are among the best in the world, and the reason is because of Vesuvius.

You see, the soil that the grapes are grown in has a high concentration of volcanic ash.

And this ash was deposited over many centuries by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius volcano and the Phlegraean Fields caldera volcano.

And because volcanic ash is rich in minerals, this makes the soil very fertile.

And because of the soil, one vineyard grows the famed Falanghina grape.

And let me introduce you to the sommelier.

Her name is Aurora.

She is the topic of this film.

(Aurora speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) - [Marylou] Aurora is pretty, she is smart, and generous in her talents, like traveling to Peru to teach poor children.

Life is great for Aurora, except for one thing, she hasn't found love.

(Aurora speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) (bright music) (Aurora continues speaking Italian) - [Marylou] So Aurora, what's the relationship between wine and love?

(Aurora speaking Italian) - [Marylou] So yes, as we can see, Aurora's having a hard time with love.

But before we go back to her story, let's get a little history of the Sannio region.

(Rosangela speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (rain pattering) (gentle solemn music) (Rosangela speaking Italian) (upbeat music) (Rosangela speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (guns popping) (hooves clopping) (Rosangela speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (upbeat music) (gun popping) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (upbeat music) - [Marylou] So speaking of dreams, Aurora right now is reviewing an entry form for a food competition.

You see, besides finding a true love, another one of Aurora's dreams is winning first prize at the ITA Food Festival with her wine.

This national festival happens every year in November, and this year it'll take place in Rome.

Now, at a recent event, she had tasted an exquisite prosciutto.

So to increase her chances of winning, she was thinking of pairing her wine with this prosciutto, and she called the maker and set up a date to meet with him.

- Alberto!

- But before we find out what happened on that date, let's take a car ride and go to a nearby beautiful hill town called Pietraroja to meet the maker of this prosciutto.

And his name is Alberto.

(Alberto speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) - [Marylou] Once the pig is sacrificed and the hindquarter is removed, each leg is then completely covered in salt for a couple of weeks.

The salt preserves the meat by inhibiting bacterial growth.

This preservation process is called curing.

The salt is then washed off and the leg is hung up in a special environment.

(Alberto speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (Alberto continues speaking Italian) (gentle music) (engine sputtering) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - [Marylou] So it's finally time for Aurora to meet Alberto for the first time.

(knuckles rapping) Or is it?

(gentle music) As they introduce themselves to each other, Aurora suddenly thinks she's seen Alberto before.

And then she remembers that a few months ago, she saw a stranger in the square in front of her home.

He was taking lots of videos, and she liked his look, his attitude, and his taste in subject matter.

It inspired her to write a poem about him.

And Alberto is thinking that Aurora looks familiar to him, but he can't remember where he saw her.

(bright upbeat music) (Aurora speaking Italian) - [Marylou] Anyway, after giving Alberto a tour of her winery, the two do some sampling of how her wine and his prosciutto taste together.

(bright upbeat music) (both speaking Italian) (playful music continues) - [Marylou] And after a couple of tastes, both start to feel the effects of the wine and prosciutto.

So Aurora and Alberto begin to chat and bond over the similarities in their lives.

They talk about how they both grew up in small towns where everyone knows everything about everybody else, and how that can be wonderful, but sometimes suffocating.

They also talk about how being the next generation that carries on the family traditions of wine and prosciutto making is both an opportunity and a burden at the same time.

In as much of a good time they're having, we found it interesting to note that the label of the wine bottle seems to be crying.

Why is that?

Well, we'll find out later.

(Aurora speaking Italian) (phone ringing) (bubble popping) (gentle sultry music) (Alberto speaking Italian) (gentle sultry music) (bubble popping) (Alberto speaking Italian) (gentle sultry music) (bubble popping) - [Marylou] Even between the smiles, Alberto knows what Aurora's thinking, and so the moment is now awkward.

So not knowing what else to say, Alberto asks her about the window in the floor.

Aurora tells him that the window is used to show visitors how deep the tufa rock had been cut in the 1700s to construct cooling caves in order to store the wine.

But then she goes on to say that unfortunately in the last 50 years, due to global warming, the yearly ambient temperature of the caves has risen so significantly that soon the caves will no longer be cold enough to store the wine.

And in a preachy, almost lofty manner, she adds that global warming is all man's fault and that this is not an issue that a prosciutto maker would probably concern himself with.

Alberto good-naturedly counters her opinion, saying that global warming is not all man's fault, but this dialogue leaves a slight chill between them.

And Alberto says goodbye, and wishes Aurora good luck with the festival.

But Aurora quickly asks him if he'd like to stay a while and take a tour of her town.

(gentle sultry music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (both speaking Italian) (upbeat music continues) - [Marylou] Our couple are now walking into a piazza named after the patron saint of this town, Saint Alphonsus.

Aurora is saying how Alphonsus was a great man because he was dedicated to helping the poor.

(Rosangela speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (gentle solemn music) (Rosangela speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (vehicle horn honking) (attendees speaking Italian) (Rosangela speaking Italian) (Rosangela continues speaking Italian) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (Maria speaking Italian) (Maria continues speaking Italian) (Maria continues speaking Italian) (Maria continues speaking Italian) (Maria continues speaking Italian) (Maria continues speaking Italian) (Maria continues speaking Italian) (gentle music) (water pattering continues) (gentle music continues) (water pattering) (gentle music) (bell clanging) (upbeat music continues) (bell clanging continues) (upbeat music continues) (bell clanging continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (chain rattling) (bell ringing) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (Marisa speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (bright music) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (Marisa continues speaking Italian) (upbeat music) - [Marylou] Aurora wants desperately to bond with Alberto, but she's become very shy and skeptical of love, so she is nervous.

And she'll take any opportunity to laugh in order to manage the pressure of the situation.

Aurora feels that love requires exploration.

And because she was a psych major in college, she's been able to rationalize in her mind that her exploration isn't about finding out about Alberto, it is finding out about herself.

And that this will require that she be vulnerable to disappointments since her true self will be revealed not in the happy moments, but during moments of pain.

But Aurora is especially fearful of the pain of rejection.

She shows Alberto her ring, which she says was from an ex-boyfriend.

She does this not only to let Alberto know that she's available and free to love, but she's trying to convince herself that she no longer needs her former lover.

(upbeat music) (birds chirping) The two sit near the Catalan window and they order some Italian tapas.

Besides laughing, another way to manage the pressure of the situation is to eat.

And this was the perfect time for Alberto to show Aurora some of the videos he had taken in Sant'Agata.

Suddenly, he remembers why Aurora looks familiar.

Do you remember when Aurora had seen Alberto taking videos?

Well, Alberto is also a filmmaker, and that morning he was in Sant'Agata to shoot a documentary.

And later that day, he had come upon a girl who was laying down flowers for this magnificent feast that overtakes the whole town.

Alberto remembers thinking how this girl reminded him of a famous poem he had learned in school.

It's called "Saturday Night in the Village," and it was written by Giacomo Leopardi, who Alberto feels is Italy's greatest poet.

Leopardi lived in Naples near the end of his life and wrote this poem in 1829.

"The lady comes from the vineyard as the sun is falling from the sky with her grasses and a bunch of roses and violets to lace into her hair tomorrow, the day of the feast."

Now, before we get back to how Aurora and Alberto are doing, let's take a closer look at this feast called the Infiorata.

(upbeat music) Days before the main event, volunteers from the town began to pick and collect myrtle leaves.

(volunteers speaking Italian) - [Marylou] Then they gathered colorful flowers, cut off the tops, and packed them up.

(volunteers speaking Italian) - [Marylou] And all of this was stored in a refrigerated room.

Meanwhile, outside, other volunteers had placed down drawings in the multiple piazzas of the town.

And using the outline of the drawings, the townspeople began to fill in the sections with colored sand.

(sand rasping) In the streets, other volunteers were using forms to create a flower carpet that ran down the entire length of the town.

Finally, on the big day, the sand paintings were complete.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) And the flowers were placed to highlight the drawings.

(upbeat music) As with all feasts, (ceremonious music) there was a marching band followed by a procession where a church statue was taken out of one church and brought to another church where it was turned around so that it could watch the fireworks.

(fireworks popping) (ceremonious music) Then there was a procession into the St.

Alphonsus Piazza, and everyone was now allowed to walk on the sand paintings since this art was only meant to exist as memories.

(announcer speaking Italian) - [Marylou] And here's what the next day looked like.

(air whooshing) (resident speaking Italian) (crickets chittering) (engine purring) - [Marylou] So let's join our couple as they're about to conclude their walk.

Aurora points out one of her favorite architectural elements.

(gentle music) (Aurora speaking Italian) - [Marylou] She likes it because it reminds her of one of her favorite movies, "Roman Holiday."

(playful music) (playful music continues) (actors wailing) - Hello!

- You beast!

(Ann speaking faintly) (Aurora speaking Italian) - [Marylou] At the end of the tour, the couple agrees on pairing up for the upcoming ITA Food Festival.

They say their goodbyes and each goes on their way.

(gentle sultry music) Alberto then invites Aurora to meet him and some friends Saturday night at 8:00 PM for the St.

Anthony Feast, and Aurora says she would be happy to meet him, and they say goodbye once more.

(gentle sultry music) (air whooshing) So now it is Saturday, and Aurora is leaving her town of Sant'Agata de' Goti.

She drives a half hour through the Sannio and drives up to another hill town called Cerreto Sannita.

As she pulls into the town, she sees the band is practicing for tonight's festivities.

She came early so she could check out the Ceramics Museum where she saw some pieces on St.

Anthony, and then stopped into the potter's studio to buy a birthday present for her grandmother.

The potter was giving a demonstration.

He was throwing a pot, which he then made into a pitcher.

And when it was finished, he said that since, like God, he was the creator of the pitcher, then like God, he had the power to destroy it.

And then Aurora bought a cross from the potter and had it shipped to her grandmother who lives in Sorrento.

Aurora walked a bit.

The town was quaint and colorful.

Then she stopped in St.

Rocco's church where she wanted to pray for her date with Alberto, but she found the town historian being interviewed by us.

(Franco speaking Italian) - [Marylou] But instead of leaving, she took out her cell phone and imagining she was Alberto, she started filming.

And she even followed us down into the crypt.

(Franco speaking Italian) - [Marylou] The thing she found interesting here was that the historian showed that centuries ago, the poor dead were seated upright in chairs as their bodies decomposed into bones, while the wealthy dead were in a separate room where they were allowed to decompose lying down.

(Franco speaking Italian) - [Marylou] This all made Aurora think again about what the potter had said about being the creator.

(Franco speaking Italian) - [Marylou] When she left the church, the sky was getting dark.

The feast lights were on.

There was lots of food.

There were lots of people waiting for the St.

Anthony procession to start.

And even though it is early, Aurora happens to spot Alberto.

And she's about to wave in order to get his attention, but she stops herself because she sees that his attention is currently on another woman.

And what Aurora is now looking at reminds her of a painful event that happened exactly one year ago today.

She had caught her ex-boyfriend kissing another girl, and she does not want to face the situation again.

And so Aurora walks out of Alberto's life.

(attendees chattering) As she leaves, there was a marching band followed by a procession where the St.

Anthony statue was taken out of one church and brought to another church where it was turned around so that it could watch the wonderful fireworks.

(bright music) (fireworks popping) But Aurora will not see all this wonder and beauty because her heart has been buried beneath many layers of hardened lava.

(bright music) And unfortunately, that was the end of our story.

We left Sant'Agata de' Goti, drove back to Naples, got on a plane, (engine roaring) flew into the sky, (engine roaring) and said goodbye to the Campania.

(pilot speaking Italian) (engine roaring) - [Marylou] And in 10 hours, we were passing Manhattan.

Of course, in our hearts, we had wished that the ending of our film would be like the beautiful moment at the end of "Journey to Italy," when during a holy feast, all the townspeople get down on their knees because they are witnessing the miracle of Katherine and Alex falling back in love with one another.

(townspeople chattering) But as we hit the tarmac in our hometown of Newark, (engine roaring) we got a message saying that hours earlier, Alberto had gone to find Aurora.

Yes, Alberto was angry that Aurora had stood him up, but it was the woman Alberto was with Saturday night who suggested that he give Aurora another try because you see, that woman was Alberto's sister.

So maybe St.

Anthony and St.

Alphonsus helped in making a miracle come true of love in the Sannio.

(knuckles rapping) (bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Funding for "Amore nel Sannio" was provided by UNICO National, (bright upbeat music) the Sons of Italy Foundation, (bright upbeat music) the Italian Sons and Daughters of America.

(bright upbeat music) Additional funding was provided by the following.

(bright upbeat music) For more information or to order a copy of this program, visit www.bongiornoproductions.com.

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