El Camino de Santiago Documentary

[ElCaminoDoc]

I am a New York based filmmaker planning to start pre-production on a film about El Camino de Santiago. I recently just finished working on a documentary that won best documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival. I will be interviewing potential subjects for the "El Camino" documentary in the summer of 2010 to start filming in the fall of 2010. The documentary will be character driven and I will follow three different people/couples/or families. I am looking for inspiration right now.

If you would like to talk with me about people/places/things you think would have to be included in a El Camino de Santiago documentary please let me know! I am going to have to rely on the kindness of strangers to help educate me. You can post to this thread or email me at ThisIsItFilms@gmail.com

Thank you!

 

[chinacat]

Hi

This really isn't meant to sound cheeky, but.....

Have you considered walking it ?

chinacat

 

[evanlow]

Chinacat is right.

If you walk the camino, as a filmmaker you will probably find materials for more than 1 production.

 

[WolverineDG]

I think it would be hard to do a film or documentary about the Camino unless you have walked it, at least part of it anyway. There is a whole camino sub-culture that you become a part of & it´s very hard to describe to outsiders what it is or what it is like. There is a bond between pilgrims, even those you just pass on the road but never meet in a bar or albergue, & you know people only by their first name & where they are from....Christina from Denmark, Kelly from Texas, Antonio from Barcelona. Or even just "the girl from Texas" "the boy from the UK" "the guy walking in traditional clothes". Even without names, you know who they are talking about. You have conversations in 4 different languages, 2 or 3 that you don´t even know, yet you understand each other. The camino "amnesia"--where the heck did I stay last night, 2 nights ago??

Anyway, best of luck! I am on the camino right now, so will talk to you more when I get home.

Buen Camino!
Kelly

 

[ElCaminoDoc]

Kelly,

I completely agree! I will be filming while I walk. I know this is not going to be easy. Now that you are on El Camino any thoughts of people/places/ things that have to be included in an El Camino documentary?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[ElCaminoDoc]

Hi

This really isn't meant to sound cheeky, but.....

Have you considered walking it ?

chinacat

That's not cheeky at all. I believe walking/ experiencing first hand is a necessity! I will be walking while I film.

 

[evanlow]

By the way, are you filming with a handheld camera?

I am not trying to put down the effort or goal of filming this documentary but you will not be able to feel the camino (i.e. for around 2-4 weeks and 20-30 km a day) if you are carrying anything heavier filming equipment than that. Instead you will need to be shuffled by other transportation into multiple location to do the shoot which is the not the same as walking the camino.

That said, modern pilgrims walked the camino for many reasons, some religious, some personal, others spiritual. But I have always been touched by those who walked because of grief. I've always wondered how the camino have changed them, and whether it has given them closure, and if it did in what ways. These pilgrims don't open up so easily (especially with a camera in front of them), and they are a great company to have in the camino.

Another source could be a French movie (contemporary) about the camino. If anyone knows about it (especially if they have English subtitles) please let me know.

Here's some thoughts about the camino.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDOTJHbwRj4

And a documentary preview, 'The way of St. James, not a path of roses.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr4Zd2e1-pU

Hope that helps.

The way of St. James is highly personal to those who have walked it, hence Kelly's comment about the bond all pilgrms share.

Is Sil on the camino? Normally, she is always the first to comment. You need to get her opinion too.

 

[chinacat]

Is Sil on the camino? Normally, she is always the first to comment. You need to get her opinion too.

Good advice 8)

chinacat

 

[spursfan]

I think that Larry Boulting's "Within the Way Without" will be very difficult to better

http://www.csj.org.uk/acatalog/DVDs.html

 

[WolverineDG]

Bill, I think Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a good place to poke around. Sto Domingo was the saint responsible for building the camino. He built many bridges, hospitals, & parts of the road to Santiago. They are celebrating the 900th anniversary of his death this year until May 2010. The people there are very proud of their association with the camino.

ah yes, and always get Sil´s opinion. She knows everything & is a real treasure to the forum (in addition to being world famous in the Camino world. So many people know Sil or Amawalker, it´s not even funny).

Kelly

 

[ElCaminoDoc]

Great! Thanks for all of your help! Keep in touch.

 

[sillydoll]

I think its wonderful that you want to do a documentary on el camino.
They have been done before, of course, and I have a few DVD's made by pilgrim film-makers. It would help to watch a few of these so that you can find an interesting focus? Perhaps a different route - nearly all of the following were filmed on the Camino Frances:

The Larry Boulting film 'Tres en el Camino' - Within the Way Without - follows the experiences of three people from three different cultures (Japan, Brazil and Holland) who walk the camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela during three different seasons (spring, winter and summer) - three independent stories, with a common link. (Available through the csj.org.uk )

"El camino de Santiago: no un camino de Rosas" by Jose Alvarez is a documentary film that interviews pilgrims, hospitaleros, priests and members of the different camino associations. (Also available through the csj.org.uk )

Paul Tobey's "Oh Ye Of Little Faith" is a documentary of his musical journey on the camino. You can download a free movie here: http://www.paultobey.com/free-movie/

Sue Kenney's 'Las Peregrinas' follows 5 women as they walk and talk their way along the camino in Galicia. http://www.suekenney.ca/

Film-maker Mark Shea walked the French Way alone and documented his own personal experiences.
From his website:

The resulting film is an honest and joyous portrayal of the transformative nature of this ancient practice. A must see for anyone who has walked the Camino, or anyone who has plans of partaking in this life changing experience in the future.

http://www.overlander.tv/camino/

Jose Alvarez's documentary "Welcome' is about the albergues the hospitaleros and the massive volunteering force that run the hostels on the caminos. (Available from csj.org.uk )

There is a photographic documentary called "One Way - Thirteen Looks" http://delmialvarez.com/camino/

I have the French movie 'St Jacques le Merque'. Its not a documentary but has quite a good camino story.

A German/Austrian Camino movie “I’ll take you to the end of the world” (similar to the St Jacques le Merque film) was recently completed at Finisterra. Directed by the Austrian director Zhristinb Kabish it deals with a father and daughter who begin their pilgrimage to Santiago in Salamanca and through it find their true personalities and the core of their relationship with one another.

The Sheens - Martin & Emilio (Estevez) are making a movie called 'The Way'. Looking forward to this one.

 

[sillydoll]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111800 ... ef=ra&cs=1

Production surge on Camino stage - Producers discover rich road for film, TV shoots

No other tradition in Spain has generated so much interest as the St. James Way, or Camino de Santiago, says Galician Media Minister Alfonso Cabaleiro. This decade, and especially 2009, has seen a Camino production surge:

CAMINO DE SANTIAGO - (National Geographic, 2009)
Six-part documentary series following Galician pop star Xoel Lopez as he backpacks from Holland's Haarlem to Santiago, using the the region's 12th-century "travel guide," Codex Calixtinus.

CRIMINAL MINDS: (Mark Gordon Co./ABC/CBS)
A Camino trip in the episode titles "Demonology" is the missing link between a demon-possessed murderer and victim.

ROAD TO SANTIAGO : (Lazona/Antena 3/ZircoZine, 2009)
Rodrigo Santiago's $4.5 million couples-in-crisis romantic comedy -- set against the painterly background of Galicia's hills, dales, barns and the Camino -- bowed in April (Warners) and generated $3.6 million in box office, landing it in the No. 4 spot of Spanish films this year.

THE WAY: (Elixir/Morena, 2010)
In Emilio Estevez's film, Martin Sheen plays an eye specialist who travels to the St. James Way to recover his son's corpse, and finds spiritual redemption on the Way. Shoots Sept. 28.

THE APOSTLE : (Artefacto, 2010)
Fernando Cortizo's $10 million digital 3-D stop-motion pic is set in rural village Xanaz, which preys upon unsuspecting foreign pilgrims. Cortizo is currently courting international distribution for his murder-mystery that he believes will "offer a beautiful window onto the magical atmosphere of Galicia and the Camino." Release date is July 25.

WHERE IS HAPPINESS? : (Pulsar/Filmanova, 2010)
Carlos Alberto Riccelli's $4 million Brazil-Galicia romantic comedy about a betrayed wife who walks the Way to get her life back on track. Filmanova's Anton Reixa has high hopes for the film -- especially in Brazil where there's tremendous interest in the Camino. Shoots by spring.

 

[ElCaminoDoc]

Thanks Sil. Those are some great resources. Anyone know of a good way to meet/ find people to be in a documentary about el Camino? For instance there is a convention in the U.S of past and future pilgrims that I plan on going to. Any more Ideas?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

http://www.americanpilgrims.com/events/ ... ional.html

http://www.americanpilgrims.com/events/ ... 091107.pdf

 

[sillydoll]

deleted

 

[sillydoll]

Ask on the other camino forums as well as this one - I'm sure you'll find a few people to be a part of your documentary.

saintjames@yahoogroups.com
gocamino@oakapple.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Santiagobis/
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/ (forum)
http://www.caminosantiago.com/way_of_sa ... /index.php

This professional documentary filmmaker who has produced award-winning documentaries for PBS, the Discovery Channel and A&E did an hour-long film about his experience walking with his father and brother. Perhaps you could persuade a relative or friend to walk with you?
http://www.threemenandasaint.com/

Good luck!

 

[ElCaminoDoc]

You guys are a wealth of knowledge! I am looking for a Academic "expert" on El Camino do you know of any? I am also looking for a preist or nun on El Camino Frances that has a special relationship with El Camino - anything come to mind?

Thank you Thank you!

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Academics there are a plenty - but maybe you don't have to go farther than our very own Nancy Frey whose Phd thesis is published as: Pilgrim Stories: On and Off the Road to Santiago, Journeys Along an Ancient Way in Modern Spain ISBN-10: 0520217519 . There is also social anthropologist Tony Jones at Cambridge researching the Camino for his degree.

In terms of priests - top of my list is Padre Blas a famous supporter (and walker) of the Camino. He runs a most excellent parish and albergue at Fuenterroble on the Via de la Plata just outisde of Salamanca. He's the man.

But just stand back there will be more listed!

 

[sturla-pilgrim]

Hi there,

In 2007 I walked the french way (from St. Jean Pied de Port) to Santiago with my camera in hand (and all the other camera equipment in my backpack). I carried along about 25 kg in my backpack for the whole (almost) 800 km journey.

And yes, of course I could feel the weight, but I am happy to say that I not only managed to walk the whole way, but also got to film and follow four different characters along the road (It was pilgrims who walked the whole way just as myself and slept in hostels. From different places, and different ages).

The film is called "In Between - Walking the Pilgrimage to Santiago" and is now available both as a DVD and Streaming on and on [url=http://www.caminosantiago.no]http://www.caminosantiago.no if you or other want to take a look.

Some months after the pilgrimage I went to see the pilgrims I had met and filmed on the Camino in order to see how the pilgrimage had influenced and maybe changed their lives. This is included in the app 48 minutes documentary. It was really interesting to see how they all (irrespective of each other) brought more or less the same feeling back home to their daily (working) life...

Here are some pictures from the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg_KrRK98HE

 

[sillydoll]

Congratulations on your achievement - it couldn't have been easy for you lugging all that equipment. It must have been a labour of love - for the camino, the pilgrims and your craft. I can't wait to watch the whole documentary!
I got quite nostalgic watching the short trailer and when the woman's face broke into that beautiful (almost teary) smile, I wanted to give her a big, pilgrim hug!!

 

[overlander]

Overlander.tv has decided to put their entire Camino de Santiago Film on Youtube. The program will be divided into shorter videos following Mark Shea’s journey along the ancient pilgrimage route. Mark wished to explore the spiritual affect the Camino (Way of St. James) has on pilgrims, by walking the French Way alone and documenting his own personal experiences.
The resulting film is an honest and joyous portrayal of the transformative nature of this ancient practice.

http://www.overlander.tv/2010/camino-de ... n-youtube/

 

[sillydoll]

Would it be possible to edit his film so that you have a ± 30 minute documentary to be used at camino workshops or presentations? I have a 34 minute dvd made by the Xunta for the 1999 Holy Year that I am still using today. It isn't bad but its a bit old fashioned now and it would be nice to have a more up-to-date documentary.