The Era of Giants

PLOT

Puglia is currently experiencing the most devastating botanical pandemic of the century: a quarantine bacterium, Xylella Fastidiosa, is killing millions of olive trees, destroying the landscape, the economy and human relationships. “The Era of Giants” recounts Giuseppe’s journey to his father’s land, in the Plain of the Monumental Olive Trees, where the arrival of the epidemic is imminent. He will have to explain to his elderly farmer how their lives will be shattered by this invisible bacterium, hitherto unknown in Italy and slowly spreading across Europe. In an area ravaged by desertification and climate change, Giuseppe’s journey is one that weaves together memories, stories and accounts of the Xylella phenomenon. The film’s many protagonists include contributions from Riccardo Valentini (Ecologist and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2017), Marco Cattaneo (Editor in Chief of National Geographic, Le Scienze and Mind), writer Daniele Rielli, journalist Stefano Liberti (Internazionale) and science enthusiast Alessandra Viola. The film, devoid of bias or conditioning, gives space to scientific opinions, suggestions and the stories of those who, at the forefront, are attempting to provide a vision of the future in an area devastated by the century’s most serious botanical pandemic. The documentary is freely inspired by Stefano Martella’s book “The Death of Giants. the Xylella bacterium and the destruction of thousand-year-old olive trees”, published by Meltemi.