Updated: 10/9/20 | October 9th, 2020
A few weeks ago, I reviewed the movie A Map For Saturday. As you know, I liked the movie. I got in get in touch with with the director/star, Brook Silva-Braga, as well as fresh from his trip in Africa, he was type of sufficient to provide me an interview.
Nomadic Matt: You took your trip in 2005. What made you choose to video tape it? What type of reactions did you get on the road?
Brook: Well I had been working at HBO for a while as well as the only booking I had about leaving for a year was what it would mean for my career. So bringing the camera was a method to state to myself, ‘See, you aren’t throwing away your career.’ people reacted well to the camera particularly when I discovered to wait a while before bringing it out.
It likewise distinguished me a bit from the rest of the crowd however I believe people didn’t truly picture what I was doing would end up in theaters as well as on TV, I was just a guy with a camera.
In the movie, one of the central themes you hear from travelers is that they didn’t want life to pass them by. I believe that’s true with anyone. Why do you believe only some people travel while others stay in their office?
Well, I suppose it’s a matter of priorities as well as background. My parents traveled rather a bit when they were younger as well as it was always something that was motivated however not something I prioritized. It was a fluke business trip to Asia that introduced me to the Thai backpacking scene as well as truly planted the seed to take a huge trip.
If I hadn’t satisfied expense as well as Paul on Ko Samui as well as heard about their RTW trip I most likely would still be in an office myself.
I was happy to see you talked about the burnout you can deal with on the road. everybody believes it’s a holiday however sometimes it is work as well as it uses on you. I experienced it rather a few times during my long haul. Did you get burnt out? How? What did you do about it?
I believe people hit a wall, usually about six months in, as well as I was no exception. I stopped being thinking about seeing more temples or churches or city squares.
The flip side of that was I ended up being very, extremely comfortable living on the road. It came to feel like house even though it was a different physical location every few days.
What was the one thing you walked away with from this whole experience?
I believe I came away with different concepts about exactly how I want to spend my life as well as an appreciation for the joys of free time. That point of view can likewise be a curse for many people who return from long trips as well as have difficulty restarting their lives or careers, frequently for many years after their trip. even today I struggle to balance my expert as well as personal ambitions.
What have you been as much as since the movie ended? any type of new movie in the works? Are you inking major movement photo deals?
I really just got back from a five-month trip with Africa as well as will spend the summertime as well as autumn editing “One Day in Africa,” a documentary complying with five or six Africans from different backgrounds on someday in their life. There’s a rural farmer, an expecting mother, a college student, etc. I hope to show a side of life in Africa that is more complex than the “look exactly how poor it is” or “look exactly how hopeful it is” range we tend to see so often.
The movie leaves off in mid-2007 after the Paris premiere. have you talked to any type of of the “co-stars” since then?
Yes, I’m still in touch with a great deal of them. Sabrina (the German like interest) is coming to new York this autumn as well as Lonnie (the Dane who cuts my hair at the end of the full-length version) is in nyc now as well as will be crashing on my couch next week.
I went to Europe last summertime as well as tried to see as many buddies there as possible. It’s truly useful to see people within a year or two, or else that e-mail friendship has a tendency to fade away.
In fact, you talked a great deal about exactly how the more time moved forward, the less the e-mails came. With the increase of Facebook, has that changed? Is the five-hour buddy a thing of the past?
I don’t believe so. I just spent a number of weeks in Lilongwe, Malawi where I made a number of truly great friends. however we haven’t e-mailed or friend-ed each other in the week since I left. I believe in the end we most likely were ‘Five-hour friends’…we filled a space for every other while we were there as well as now we’ve gone our own ways.
The last time I saw Jens was at the European premiere a year back however he’s still training to ended up being a pilot for Lufthansa as well as as I comprehend it he’ll be doing flight training out in Arizona though I didn’t hear back from my last e-mail to him. Sabrina has moved back to her native Germany after a couple years in Amsterdam, she’svisiting new York as well as not particularly to see me. I still e-mail Robert, who is a “Five-hour friend” from the movie. He’s married now as well as living in his native Ireland.
I believe that’s true to an degree however Facebook definitely enables you to stay in touch as well as keep tabs on people easier. In the beginning, I tried to stay in touch with everybody however as you travel you begin to acknowledge that’s not desirable. Anyways, exactly how has A Map for Saturday altered your life?
Hmm, that’s an fascinating concern that I don’t believe I’ve been asked before. I stated before exactly how the trip altered my life by making me appreciate the joys of free time. however it’s been the success of the documentary that has enabled me to stay out of an office the last two years. So I assumption A Map for Saturday has altered my life by providing me the flexibility to online the life I want to live.
Since not all of us are award-winning directors, any type of advice for those who want to online out of the office?
Well, there are a great deal of methods to make a living while you’re away, it’s useful to believe a bit more broadly than “travel writer” or “travel photographer” since everybody wants those tasks as well as there aren’t many of them. many of us though have tasks where we can work our butt off for four or five months as well as then have sufficient money to travel on a tight budget plan for the rest of the year.
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To this day, over 13 years later, A Map for Saturday is still one of the very best movies about long-lasting travel I’ve ever seen. It captures things about life on the road few other films ever examine. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to inspect it out. While it is a bit old now, the themes as well as stuggles it addresses are timeless.
If you want to get a glimpse of life on the road before your next trip, this is the movie to watch!
Get the Film!
You can lease (or buy) the movie on Amazon by clicking here! It’s my preferred travel movie and, if you want to truly understand what travel is like — or reminisce about your experience — get THIS MOVIE!!!
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