The European Nature Trust (TENT) is a charity which helps power the most effective conservation projects across Europe and Belize, reconnecting people with the natural systems on which we depend. Amongst other species, much of their work has helped revive bear populations in Europe. TENT is a longstanding supporter of Salviamo l’Orso, an Italian volunteer-led NGO co-ordinating actions to conserve the Marsican brown bear, through measures such as wildlife corridors. They have also supported aspiring Italian documentary filmmaker, Mattia Cialoni on his debut documentary 'My Neighbour is a Bear', which brings an artful new perspective on human–wildlife coexistence, and has inspired the titles in of our stories collection.

From our earliest beginnings, bears have mystified and enchanted us as a symbol of the untamed wild. Yet, very few are aware that brown bears are endemic to the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Fewer still know how much they need our help. While originally inhabiting lowland areas as well, pressure from humans over the past 2 centuries has led to their confinement to higher mountainous regions within the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. But the bears can have a bright future, if we only give them the space and support they need. 

Tucked away in the valleys of Abruzzo National Park is a fragile population of Marsican brown bears. The film from Mattia Cialoni sets out not to document the frailty of the species, but the sense of pride, purpose and strength the bear brings to local communities. My Neighbour is a Bear is an alternate take on the traditional wildlife film – a heartfelt ode to the joys of coexisting with wild nature.

The film follows the arrival of a mother bear – Amarena – with her our cubs, as she journeys down from the mountains of Abruzzo to the sun-strewn and cobbled streets of Villalago, a nearby village. ‘Have you seen the bear?’ the locals ask. ‘Yes, she had four little cubs with her,’ one replies, chuckling in the golden Mediterranean sunlight.

Where folklore has entrenched beliefs that bears are to be feared, many locals here live in harmony with the species, embracing the bear as a part of the region’s heritage. For some, the bear is a fascinating character; a benign and natural presence that brings joy to daily life. Mattia introduces us to his central character: Sabrina, a local woman who ventures out morning and evening to observe and watch over the bears.

‘I noticed that the village itself was a character. Everyone spoke of the bear as their ‘neighbour’,’ says Mattia. ‘It was a special relationship that I had never seen before, and I wanted to tell this story of coexistence’. He discovered an ancient, but ever-present kinship between the bears of Abruzzo and the local villages – one that has been forgotten in many parts of the world. ‘The bear here is actually not just an ambassador for the region, but for Italy itself.’

Throughout, Sabrina’s care for the bears is palpable. It is a feeling that Mattia could empathise with: for the past few years, he has worked as a nurse in Bristol Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. In the run up to making the film, Mattia had daily exposure to the frontlines of Covid-19; the deaths, and the trauma to the lives of families that were unable to see the people who had contracted the virus.

‘Looking back, what got me through was the passion I had to make this film, to tell this story. I think the immersion in nature and the storyline actually helped me to not break down.’ In Sabrina, Mattia found a character who experienced daily the similar, organic pull to nature that Mattia describes. ‘There is so much curiosity, so much beauty to be found in nature. I hope that the positive message comes across in my film; that nature can provide a space to re-connect, and to heal.’

Watch the film here and read the original article that this story was adapted from on The European Nature Trust website.