Film documents Bombay Beach's rebirth through art after environmental disaster

The independent film 'Last Stop Before Chocolate Mountain,' directed by Susanna Della Sala, premiered at the Festival dei Popoli on November 10, 2022, at Spazio Alfieri in Florence. It tells the story of Bombay Beach, a California desert town on the Salton Sea that was a celebrity resort in the 1950s-80s until a natural disaster—exacerbated by climate change, pesticides, and rising salinity—devastated the lake and tourism. The population dwindled to 300, and the area became a 'Census Designated Place.' In 2016, the eccentric Bombay Beach Biennale, founded by Italian-American director Tao Ruspoli, Hollywood Art Hotel owner Stefan Ashkenazy, and Johnson & Johnson heiress Lily Johnson White, revived the town by attracting artists, performers, architects, Ivy League professors, and indie musicians. The festival uses environmental degradation as a tool for regeneration. The 90-minute film, produced by Marco Visalberghi and distributed by ZaLab, questions how cultural renewal can counteract urban malaise and climate change. Della Sala, a graduate of Politecnico di Milano and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, described the film as a four-year personal journey representing a universal, metaphorical place for self-confrontation and creative awakening.