The Camino and Its People

4/19-4/22: Starting from St. Jean

On April 21st, we once again packed up the two vans and headed over the verdant mountain roads to St. Jean Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees. We were thrilled with our first sightings of pilgrims walking along the Camino Frances, or crossing over where the path intersects with the highway. We beeped and waved, held cameras up to the open windows, and realized that in just one more day, we would be the pilgrims with our packs - and recording equipment - walking the same trail over those breathtaking mountains.

 

In a café in St. Jean, we met up with Annie O’Neil - our pilgrim from the Los Angeles, CA, USA - who had agreed in advance to let us film her journey across the Camino de Santiago. During the afternoon, we followed her to the pilgrim office, where the pilgrims may choose their shells, or “conchas” - the symbols of the Camino - to tie to their packs. Here, the pilgrims also receive their Pilgrim Credential, a veritable passport which will be stamped in every Albergue, bar and restaurant along their particular route. Hanging in the pilgrim office was a large scale, on which pilgrims weigh their packs to find out exactly how much it weighs - and how much they should reconsider bringing. One’s pack is almost guaranteed to be too heavy, so nearly everyone starts immediately unloading their belongings and choosing the things to either give away or mail to pick up at the end in Santiago de Compostela. This act was just the beginning of a recurring theme on the Camino - some things you are carrying must be let go.

 

After sleeping a chilly night in a little Albergue called Le Chemin, meaning ”The Way,” our crew loaded the vans with whatever we didn’t need to carry, and split to shoot for the first time in our respective crews. The A Crew consisted of Lydia, Pedro Valenzuela (Director of Photography), Andres, Guglielmo, Sally Bentley (Line Producer), and Marcelo. The B Crew consisted of Theresa, David Tudela (Director of Photography - Second Unit), Nacho Arenas (Sound Recordist - Second Unit), Josh Miller (Camera Assistant/Technician), Fernando Menéndez Carbone (Additional Photography), and Mani Feniger (Producer’s Assistant). Along the way to Orisson, where they would spend the night, the B Crew met Jack and Wayne - a couple of friends from Canada who, little did we know, we would end up following for weeks to come. The B Crew lumbered up the steep hill that had been closed just days earlier due to snowfall, and Jack and Wayne would later describe their passage across the same peaks as covered by a fog so dense they could hardly see a few feet ahead of them. It was a strenuous hike, but lots of water and several chocolate bars got us to our next Albergue in good spirits.

 

 

 

The morning in Orrisson was heralded by a brilliant sun, and the B Crew headed up the remaining kilometers to the peak, in the van this time, to film pilgrims, or “peregrinos” as as they walked up the road. Thus began the odd mix of our Camino experience - sometimes walking alongside the pilgrims, other times going ahead or dropping back behind them to film. Our challenge, and surrender, was not being able to set our own pace as all pilgrims must do, but instead needing to be flexible and responsive to the serendipitous flux of the people and events we were recording.

Our welcome into Roncesvalles - the first small village in Spain along the Camino - was warm indeed, and we were joined by the A Crew’s final member, KC Englander (Technician/Assistant). We were all so grateful to rest peacefully in the gorgeous tree-top rooms of the Casa de Los Benificiados,and to toast once again before a delicious dinner at Casa Sabina next door.

Across the mountain, the two crews started the process of recording snapshots of various pilgrims we encountered - just a one-minute glimpse of a person, who would tell us their name, country, age, profession and reason for doing the Camino. We met a young couple from Germany, a lone woman from Korea, a younger man from Italy, two women from Canada, two Brazilian friends, a girl from Holland, among many more. Sometimes those traveling in pairs or trios appeared to be old friends, but upon inquiry we would learn that they had only met the night before in their Albergue, or earlier the same day at a water fountain. At this early stage, we were buzzing with anticipation to know which of these nomadic strangers were destined to become the pilgrims we would come to know so much about, and eventually follow all the way to Santiago de Compostela.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by KC Englander. Original copy by Mani Feniger.