A young Dallas filmmaker plans to document her own trip around the world, inspired by the same one undertaken by her father 40 years earlier.
Bella Poscente, a recent graduate from the University of Colorado Boulder, said she is beginning her documentary project, titled “In My Father’s Footsteps,” in September. Her first stop is Australia.
Following the roadmap laid by her father in the 1980s, Bella will refer to his letters and photos as she attempts to connect with people and new cultures as he once did.
“I still think about that trip every day,” Vince Poscente, a writer and former Canadian Olympic skier, said, according to NBC 5 DFW. “It was such a visceral experience of connecting with people.”
Bella has already produced a trailer for the documentary and amassed $25,617 by crowdfunding on Indiegogo as of August 21.
While the solo journey will be the driving force behind Bella’s project, its main focus will be on the people she encounters along the way.
“I feel like there’s this missing kind of a void in my generation with not being able to really talk or understand people,” Bella said, NBC 5. “So getting outside of that box and bubble, and empathizing and sympathizing with people around the world, I feel like will just be kind of that aid to that void.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, an unlikely duo embarked on a similarly inspiring voyage earlier this year: two Texas grandmothers who decided to celebrate their 80th birthdays by visiting all seven continents.
She said the idea for her quest to document human connection began when social distancing measures had many people living in isolation.
“It was actually during COVID when I had this inkling and urge to go see the world, and connect with people, and understand different cultures, and understand my dad, too, in a new lens,” Bella explained, per NBC 5.
In her pursuit of genuine interactions, Bella said she would keep her use of social media to a minimum and enlist the help of a cinematographer and a sound recorder for certain parts of the trip.
She said she plans to write emails — similar to the letters posted by her father during his travels — to those who contribute financially to the project.
“I’m so excited! I wish I could come,” Vince told NBC 5.
After Bella’s voyage, she will work on the documentary and collaborate with her father to merge the letters and emails from their respective travels into a book.
Bella said she hopes to leave a mark on the world by “[delving] into the depths of the father-daughter relationship and [highlighting] the transformative power of stepping out of your comfort zone,” NBC 5 reported.
