Via Transilvanica: The Road Ahead, a documentary about the making of the long-distance trail crossing Romania and the people involved in the project, was screened in the United States as part of a tour between May 21 and June 3.

The production travelled to nine U.S. cities - Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, New Haven, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Reno-Tahoe and Denver - on a tour that also promoted the Via Transilvanica project, which is nearing completion after four years of work in ten counties of the country.

The film was made by director Mircea Gherase in the summer of 2021, when the longest section of this route, Caras-Severin, was set up. 

The film premiered in Chicago, at the ROCO community center, in partnership with RUF - the Romanian United Fund, which in 2019 raised the money needed to build 100 kilometers of the trail. In Washington DC, the screening was hosted at the residence of the Romanian Ambassador, Andrei Muraru. 

In Denver, Via Transilvanica signed a collaboration agreement with FarOut, an app for long-distance routes. The Via Transilvanica trail, with all the needed information, will be uploaded to the app as a guidebook plus GPS tracking to help hikers find their way along the route. It will be included in the app alongside trails such as the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail, raising its profile among international hikers.

Via Transilvanica is to link Drobeta-Turnu Severin, in Mehedinți county, to Putna, in the northeastern part of the country. In between the two localities, the route goes through ten counties and covers over 1,000 km.

(Photo: Adragosphoto | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com