Gefährlich nah - Wenn Bären töten

This documentary is undoubtedly important. With an intriguing narration, which is able to extend the problem both in time and space, this film depicts the problem instead of providing any definitive solutions. Namely, it gives some insights to understand better the actual extension of the issue and the cost of possible solutions. Leading the viewer through the local people's perspective, the animal rights activists' one and the bear presence's meaning, it pieces together the historical events and the social-political outcomes at the base of what has become the "bear problem" in Trentino, after the tragic death of Andrea Papi in April 2023. The film is somehow also able to broaden the scope of the issue, reaching a higher perspective involving the relationship between human beings and wild animals, the right to transform and force nature, its risks and costs, as well as the importance of stepping back in front of more powerful living beings and the importance of accepting our weaknesses in front of this. These are all hints and insights while the movie sticks to the events before and after the tragic episode, analysing historical factors and social-political dynamics, i.e. Taking into consideration the hard role of forest rangers between law and local people's grief and rage, or the meaning of keeping wild animals in captivity, as seen in the Black Forest sanctuary, in Germany, where the question is whether to prefer death instead of psychologically torturing a bear by imprisoning it. I particularly appreciated the film's ability to touch all these important big and little aspects, through wisely recorded and edited interviews. The film's music score and the photography are fascinating, with all the wide shots of the Dolomites providing a sort of sight-from-above that is where the film would carry the audience while considering a complex issue like this at close range.