Southern Romania: Video documentaries reveal incredible longevity of locals in Buzău Land
A series of video documentaries, initially developed through a partnership with DigiWorld and later continued by the Buzău Land Association, revealed an unusual proportion of individuals aged 90 and 100 years or older in several communities within the UNESCO Geopark of Buzău County, southern Romania.
Buzău County – declared a UNESCO International Geopark in 2022 – is home to what scientists call a blue zone, where many in the community live remarkably longer than the average global lifespan.
Data from the village hall of Mânzălești, in Valea Slănicului, shows that out of the 2,000 residents in the area, 40 are over 90 years old, making up around 2% of the population. This rate is unusual, being four times higher than the national average in Romania. According to the latest census, out of the total population of 19.053 million people, 102,000 are over 90 years old, accounting for 0.5% of the population.
The percentage in Mânzălești is similar to famous blue zones like Icaria in Sardinia or the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. While these distant places have been widely publicized, Mânzălești and Valea Slănicului are a hidden revelation, a yet-undisclosed secret worth discovering.
The Buzău Land Association aims to discover the secrets of the local elders, preserving their wealth of wisdom by filming the source of knowledge that has helped locals lead peaceful lives and achieve longevity records.
”Throughout our efforts to include Buzău Land in the UNESCO Geoparks, we’ve found real treasures in the region. These go beyond touristic or food attractions and touch on well-being and the quality of life we all aim for. The first episodes, produced in partnership with Digi Worlds, uncovered a surprising trend of longevity, so we’ve decided to explore this further through new documentary films as part of a Geopark project. We want to bring all these aspects to light for Romanians and the world to know about,” says Răzvan-Gabriel Popa, manager of Buzău Land UNESCO Global Geopark.
Residents of Buzău Land kept a healthy lifestyle close to agricultural rituals and age-old traditions. Sadly, this uncomplicated and natural way of life is fading away: the region is experiencing depopulation, and the younger generation is choosing the city and its convenient, yet often detrimental, lifestyle.
To preserve some of the traditional life in the area, a filming team from the Geopark has created a documentary series titled “Ținutul, bucată cu bucată” (The Land, Piece by Piece), delving into the themes of longevity and transience, two extremes coexisting in one of Romania’s lesser-known and most beautiful regions.
”We have set out to preserve it for memory, to cinematically capture its wisdom and vitality in a series of documentaries about the most sustainable way of life: communion with nature. To relearn from the elders of Buzău Land what we knew and have forgotten: simplicity, moderation, and common sense,” says Anca Grădinariu, project coordinator for video documentaries, TV producer, and member of the Buzău Land Association.
“Our journey doesn’t end here; we’ll keep engaging with the locals, listening to their advice, and filming their lives as they’ve known them for decades. Through this, we aim to unveil their incredible vitality, longevity, wisdom, and resilience. Ultimately, we’re on a mission to relearn what we’ve forgotten: how to live in harmony with nature. For the long term,” shares the author of the documentaries.
Anca Grădinariu engaged with numerous seniors to uncover the secret that keeps them going, establishing a genuine connection with the community.
”When I come here to Valea Slănicului, people approach me and share stories about relatives and friends who are 90 or 100 years old, still vibrant and hardworking. [...] Using the knowledge I gained from a master’s degree in consumer sociology, I practically did qualitative research, with results not much different from those in the book or documentary Blue Zones. I believe it’s the responsibility of public institutions to thoroughly investigate this phenomenon quantitatively, as long as it still exists (whether in Valea Slănicului or elsewhere). The findings could greatly benefit Romanian society and our wish for a longer and healthier life,” she says.
(Photo source: Buzau Land Association)
