Catalonia’s tourism agency has just won the best film prize from the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT).
‘La Ruta de l’Atzar’ (Route of Fate) is a short film promoting tourism in Catalonia, and follows two women as they retrace the steps around Catalonia of a musician as chronicled in his journal. They see him drop his journal as he boards a train, and they set out to return it to him, eventually meeting up with him as he is playing a gig outdoors in Girona.
On their trip around Catalonia, the women visit a host of different tourist destinations, including Montserrat, the ruins of Cartoixa d’Escaladei in the Priorat, the Pyrenees, Tarragona, Costa Brava and Girona. Through their journey across Catalonia, they experience the magnificent scenery of Catalonia while taking in the region’s wonderful culture and history, and savouring its fabulous food and wine.
The film was made by the Chârles Barcelona advertising agency, and ‘La Ruta de l’Atzar’ has this year already won best tourism film at seven international festivals. The CIFFT is a network of tourism film festivals aiming to promote excellence in audiovisual tourism promotion and recognizes the best films promoting a destination or product.
Steve Smith, an Australian song-writer, is the musician who stars in the short film, and the song he plays is an adaptation of Catalan musician’s Jaume Sisa‘s 1975 song ‘Qualsevol nit pot sortir el sol’ (Any night may be a sunrise).
Locations around Barcelona and Catalonia
The film begins in Barcelona, with scenes of the musician and two women filmed by the UNESCO buildings of Lluis Domènech i Montaner’s Hospital de Sant Pau and Gaudi’s Sagrada Família, both Art Nouveau / modernisme in the Eixample neightbourhood. The film uses poetic license to then jump outside of the city by about 15 miles to Bellaterra get a nice outdoor train station shot of the characters, where the women pick up the journal that they see the musician drop as he boards the train, and they begin their adventure in tracking down the musician and travelling to the various places in Catalonia that he had recorded in his journal.
The women head off to Montserrat Mountain, where they see the historic monastery and incredible views. From there, they make their way to the Mediterranean coast and visit the small town of Vendrell, home of Spain’s famous cello player Pau Casals, and then take a break on the golden sandy beaches of Tarragona’s Costa Daurada (Gold Coast). After the beach visit, they head south to tour the stunning wine region of Priorat and visit the ruins of the Cartoixa d’Escaladei monastery.
With a little more poetic licence they journey back to Tarragona city, and later enjoy a visit to the vineyards and an evening meal at Horta de Sant Joan in neighbouring Terra Alta, close to the border with Aragon. The next day they take a bike tour along the Via Verda de la Vall de Zafan, a cycling path set up on a disused railway line.
They then venture back to visit the Roman amphitheatre in Tarragona, and later soak in the atmosphere of the gothic cloister of the Seu Vella (old cathedral) in Lleida. From Lleida they visit the Pyrenees, taking the Tren dels Llacs (Train of the Lakes) that takes you to the Pyrenees on a scenic journey along lakes.
After visiting the Congost de Montrebei (Montrebei Gorge), they make their way to Valle de Boí (Boi Valley), where they visit the UNESCO sites of the Romanesque churches with their remarkably preserved frescos. In Valle de Boí, they also experience the Falles, a festival on St. John’s Eve that involves hundreds of people carrying flaming torches made with resinous pine wood tied to an ash tree or a hazelnut tree sticks.
The women then make their way east along the Pyrenees to the Mediteranean once again, this time in Northern Catalonia, to Cadaques and Por Lligat in the Costa Brava, most famous for once being the home of Salvador Dalí. They then venture inland to Girona, where they discover the musician playing on the outdoors, on the steps of Pujada de Sant Domenech, where they give him back his journal and share a drink with him.
Would you like to visit some of the beautiful areas of Barcelona and Catalonia showcased in this short film? Contact Killian today to see what you can discover.