Synopsis | The Making of . . . | Current Status | The Film's Message

Synopsis

500 miles on foot. Bunk-beds. Blisters. Stunning landscapes. World-class snorers. Hot searing sun, freezing cold rain. Kindness from strangers. Debilitating injury. Unexpected romance. No toilet paper when you really need it. Profound grief and deep doubt. Hunger. Laughing with new friends. Total exhaustion. You are guaranteed to experience all of this when walking the ancient pilgrim path, the Camino de Santiago.

Across Spain, this sacred path stretches westward to the city of Santiago de Compostela where the bones of the apostle St. James are said to be buried. The Camino is world-renowned; UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site and the Council of Europe declared it the first European Cultural Itinerary. Millions of people from all over the world have traveled this trail for over 1,000 years – in 2010 alone, over 270,000 people attempted the arduous trek – each one a seeker of something.

In the Middle Ages, pilgrims sought forgiveness of their sins and admission to heaven. The Camino remains, for many, a quest of faith. Others begin with no spiritual impetus in mind, but nevertheless are drawn to examine their personal beliefs and life purpose. And others are in it simply for the intense physical challenge. Whatever their motivation, no one can predict just how their path will unfold, who they will meet, what personal demons or angels they will face, or what transformations they will undergo by the trail’s end.

Walking the Camino is an up-close look at one of humanity’s most time-honored traditions. By following pilgrims from all walks of life as they attempt to cross an entire country on foot with only a backpack, a pair of boots and an open mind, we witness the Camino’s magnetic and miraculous power to change lives. Driven by an inexplicable calling and a grand sense of adventure, each pilgrim throws themselves heart-and-soul into their physical trek to Santiago and, most importantly, their personal journey to themselves.

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The Making of...

Walking the Camino has been in the making since fall, 2008, when Director/Producer Lydia B. Smith returned from walking the 500-mile trail herself. With the incredible in-kind support from countless individuals, albergues, organizations, businesses and Spanish governments, we were able to begin production.

On April 22nd, 2009, our crew converged upon St. Jean Pied de Port, the traditional starting point of the Camino Francés. Coming from Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain, the USA, Argentina, and Brazil, and ranging in age from 21 to 62 years old, our 12 crewmembers were as diverse as the pilgrims themselves. We shot primarily on the Sony Ex-1 & 3 High-Definition video cameras.

During these beginning stages of the trail, we fatefully encountered the travelers that would become the cast of Walking the Camino. To truthfully capture the pilgrim experience, our three camera units trekked alongside them, conducting walk-and-talk and stationary interviews over the six-week journey. Allowing us an even more personal entry into their journey, our main pilgrims recorded hours of their own intimate video-diaries during moments of introspection on the trail or inside the albergues (special pilgrim hostels). Behind the scenes, several crewmembers captured the crew's own candid experiences throughout the film’s making.

On June 8th, 2009, the filming of this journey was completed at the route’s official end: the city of Santiago de Compostela. We returned to the United States with over 300 hours of footage, having followed over 15 pilgrims and interviewed dozens of Camino experts – the scholars, priests, health professionals and hospitaleros (pilgrim-hostel volunteers) who live on the Camino and serve hundreds of pilgrims every day.

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Current Status

We are now fundraising for the post-production of Walking the Camino. The project cannot move forward without additional financial support, having raised just enough money and in-kind donations for the film’s bare-bones shoot. Please donate to our ‘Power of One’ Campaign today and help us make this film a reality!

Support from several organizations and numerous donors has allowed us to prepare for the edit. Since our return from the shoot to our office in Portland, OR, over a dozen international volunteers have been digitizing, logging, transcribing and translating the 300+ hours of footage gathered along the Camino. Visit our Get Involved page to find out how you can help.

Once funds are secured, we will create at least two programs: a 60-minute version for primetime PBS broadcast and worldwide telecast, and a 90-minute theatrical release for national and international box offices. For maximum accessibility, Walking the Camino will be subtitled into six different languages: English, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese and French. Contact us if you have a connection that would be interested in funding or acquiring Walking the Camino for a national broadcast.

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The Film's Message

Walking the Camino presents universal themes through personal stories for those seeking to redefine the way they live their lives, to deepen their relationship with themselves, and to rediscover their connection with the world in which they live. Many refer to the Camino as a ‘metaphor for life,’ in that each person must determine and find their own way – what is right for one may not be for another. There is no single right way to do the Camino, nor to live life.

Our film will speak to young viewers in the process of self-formation, offer a way for retirees and mid-lifers to reflect on their past and possibilities for their future, and encourage our disabled population to think beyond their limits. Rather than merely entertaining with mental diversion, the film will engage its audience in an active rumination on their own lives.

The Camino provides a structure with no agenda where one can develop themselves from the inside-out. Walking for miles with only nature and their thoughts for company, pilgrims are forced to step out of their comfort zones, look inward and examine their fears, insecurities and prejudices towards others.

Out of such self-awareness inevitably emerges open-mindedness and generosity, as pilgrims help each other reach the finish line. Generosity emerges in touching moments of kindness: when one pilgrim suffers from a heavy load and cannot go on, another carries their backpack without a second thought; when one runs out of cash, another will loan even a complete stranger whatever they need. The Camino is a great equalizer, where our differences become irrelevant and our similarities more apparent.

Our documentary, just like the Camino itself, will create this sense of global community and spark a dialogue about life’s biggest questions. Amidst a time of considerable social malaise, Walking the Camino will illuminate what enables us to transcend the perceived boundaries of race, language, social status, age, faith and nationality, and remind us of what is best about being human.

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Our fundraising trek to Santiago

With your help, we have made it to Santiago and have enough money to complete our feature length theatrical version. We will be submitting this 80-minute documentary to film festivals worldwide. We couldn't of done it without all the individual donations, whether they were $5 or a $1,000. Every donation helped us reach our goal and we can't thank you enough. Gracias. Having raised the 225k, means that we have covered all office expenses, editorial expenses and online costs for our theatrical version only. The 225k also represents three years of hard work by our Camino staff. One of the reasons we were able to achieve this incredible feat with such a tight budget, is because our director and all our producers continue to work without pay.

On to Finisterre...

Our next push to Finesterre, is to raise funds to edit our one hour TV version as well as create our DVD. During our international festival run, we plan on connecting with international television stations worldwide. This is an expensive process as all countries have different technical requirements. Additionally, we will have to provide all the translations ourselves. We plan on translating the film into Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Korean.

Concurrently, we will be making a DVD version for sale world wide via our website. On the DVD, we will include an expanded version with additional pilgrims and their stories, which did not make the final cut. Cutting pilgrims from the film was an inevitable part of our film making process due to making an 80 minute film out of 300 hours of footage. But they area all amazing stories and we plan to bring more of them to light on our expanded DVD. We will also include many deleted scenes of our main pilgrims, a behind-the-scenes featurette, hospitalero portraits and much more!

...and to the world

Our third and final push to reach the entire world is to fund a year of marketing/distribution and publicist fees. This means keeping two office staff and hiring a publicist to promote the film. The hiring of the publicist is easily the most expensive item we have, but it guarantees our film will reach a wider audience.