A Scenic Road Trip Through the Swiss Alps

The road trip – fictional or otherwise – has fuelled the imagination of some of the most influential figures in literature, film, art and music. Consider Tom Wolfe's epic 1966 novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which details a psychedelic, acid-enhanced journey through America on a customised school bus; or more recently, Alexander Payne’s dark comedy Nebraska (2013), which wittily depicts on a 750-mile trip to Lincoln, Nebraska. Last spring, Berlin-based filmmaker Clemens Purner and his partner, photographer Emma Hartvig were similarly compelled to undertake such a journey. "We found an old-timer car festival in Italy called Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este – which is at the beautiful Lake Como. We both love retro cars, and to travel, so we decided to make a road trip out of it. As time went by, we developed the idea into a film and photo project," enthuses Hartvig. 

The resulting short, shown exclusively on anothermag.com below, intimately captures the couple's journey from their modernist apartment in Berlin through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Though their drive retains a free-spirited sensibility, elements of the route were planned to ensure their desired aesthetic – "soft and intimate" – remained consistent throughout. "We almost wrote a script," recalls Hartvig, adding "Moodboards and treatments were made, and certain scenes were planned beforehand. But we wanted it to feel personal and not like a sleek commercial. That’s also why we star in our own film." Unsurprisingly, the duo certainly wasn't short of golden photo opportunities, having navigated snow-tipped alpine roads and the sun-drenched Cinque Terre. "We discovered just how incredible and beautiful Europe is. You can experience so many different landscapes, climates, languages, cultures and people in just a few days. Everyone should do it."