Meltdown, The Alps Under Pressure, National Geographic Magazine: Lonely Life Of Christian Man

A bachelor living alone in the small village in the Dolomites reads a Ladin newspaper and watches a mass during a funeral on television in honor of an Italian soldier.  Although neighbors check in, he lives an isolated life in the rural Ladino town that has a small population. The man was a farmer but was injured and lives a modest life surviving on two pensions—one for his age and the other for his injury.

Ladin is an ancient culture that is unique to the Dolomites. The people have their own language, traditions and even their own cuisine with roots dating as far back as the Roman Empire. It is only recently that Ladin was recognized as a language. The direct consequence of this is that now the language is taught in schools, and there are radio and television programs as well as a Ladin newspaper published weekly.

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