Notes from the Serra: Summer

A quarterly reflection on the Serra storytelling project as it unfolds.

Six months ago, a storytelling project was born. It was an idea inspired by the mountains, a transcendental quality that they represent, a paradox of adversity and beauty that is unique to these environments.

It was about the people that remote and rural places attract, the desire for solitude, meaning, connection, and reinvention.

To have the ability to express, to create with fewer constraints than what we are generally faced with in the modern world, to go one’s own way, yet still recognise our innate interconnectedness: that the disaster and decay of human society is something that affects all of us, no matter who, what, or where we are. And perhaps the creative expressions that arise in the face of that can also offer something valuable: a sense of hope, a new set of stories, or narratives that we can live by.

Serra may have formalised in expression during this period in Portugal, but in reality, the inspiration was a long time in the making — fermenting, bubbling away, metamorphosing. And it was bigger than just one place. Bigger than a mountain range. Bigger than one specific country.

At this point of the half-anniversary, I’m reflecting on which direction it will take. How it may be transforming once again from thought into form. And on a personal level, as I prepare to move countries once again, I’m considering how it can be adapted to stay true to that original spark of inspiration as my own circumstances change.

The honest truth is that I do not know.

I will revisit the Portuguese countryside once again to follow the threads of the story that have been initiated so far. These are stories that are much more than 15-minute films, and the vastness and complexity of these subjects are something that I continue to wrestle with, reflect on, adapt to, and refine.

But the harsh reality of this world is that our overarching paradigm of capitalism is cold and indifferent; it cares not for meaning and story, and since my ability to continue with this project is inextricably linked to the need to support it (and myself) financially, this has to take priority.

Perhaps within that constraint, something else will emerge and take form. A new possibility can express itself, perhaps in a way that is better than could have previously been imagined.

So as I prepare to strip away the excess and uproot once again, heading towards the Alpine territories between Italy and Switzerland, this space will open up and give way for another evolution, for more stories that transcend borders, nationalities, and identity.

In the meantime, I will have another 4-5 chapters from Portugal that will be released over the coming months — the next episodes from Possibility (with Deborah Osberg), Process (with Luca d’Ortenzi), Wild (with Lars Wild), and two new characters that I am excited to share with the world.

Thanks for reading and for the support, and if you feel inclined to support the project through a paid subscription on Substack or Patreon, it would mean the world.

— Adrian (Founder/Filmmaker)