Melinda and I say hello from the southern part of the Rio Grande. As
I type, I can look out the window to the river and see two
international bridges, and Mexico's Nuevo Laredo on the other side.
We began our shooting in Terlingua, on the western side of the Big Bend
National park. We were interested in the community of Boquillas, in
Mexico, where before 9/11 tourists and park rangers would go to eat
lunch and drink 25 cent beer. Imagine if one day, you woke up, and now
the only way to visit a town you could throw a rock at is to drive 6
hours out of the way! In the photo below, note the walking sticks that
the people of Boquillas illegally sell- the park considers it
contraband.
One park ranger told us that he hadn't seen the people in Boquillas in
6 years- but before he had held their newborn babies and they had held
his. The deepest part of the Rio Grande is the border, and where we
were, it was knee-deep. The sign says it all:
In Quemado, TX, we happened upon Tony and Catherine Castenado. Tony,
the police chief of nearby Eagle Pass, let us film him taking a hose
down to the Rio Grande to pump water that he needs for his house for
everything but drinking. If the border patrol stops letting him do
this, he said he wasn't sure what he would do.
We then went to Eagle Pass, where we went with the mayor, Chad Foster,
who explained that his city was being sued because they do not want to
allow a border wall along the Texas side of the Rio Grande. We filmed a
lot of people who were on the Mexican side of the river, keeping cool
in the 103 degree heat. Then we went over to Piedras Negras, in Mexico,
to film these same people from their home soil. Please note: you are
supposed to have a passport or birth certificate along with your
license to be let back into the country. We were asked quite a few
questions, and were relieved to be let back into the US, but getting to
see the Rio Bravo (Spanish for Rio Grande) up close from Mexico was
well worth it!
The camera and I went from the Danube straight to Taos, New Mexico and the Rio Grande River where Melinda and I filmed snow runoff and adventure rafting. Establishing shot from bridge:
the camera, luckily, stayed dry through the rapids. Melinda Levin at camera and the helm:
And how great is it that the river rafting company is Los Rios, literally translated as "the rivers"? Next we will be in the Big Bend National Park and hopefully speaking with a border patrol agent about the river as a political border.
The Beograd team of faculty and students in Serbia on the Danube packed every moment of every day with great shooting- from the 4 am sunrise to ships passing in the night. For the last 4 days we were in a national park in Northern Serbia near the Romanian border. In some places the river is 3 miles wide and looks like a lake:
we filmed a dam
and, of course, from boats:
In all, we filmed archeologists' discoveries in caves, fishermen, and so much more (20 cards or a whopping nearly 700 minutes)! The workflow- well, worked and flowed nicely once we got in the groove.
Here is the crew in front of the waves of the Danube!
The camera and I arrived safely back in the states and Melinda and I will be filming here on the Rio Grande for the next few days- more on that coming soon!
The Bratislava crew in a small town along the Danube. The banner reads: long live the arts!
The romantic Danube in Budapest:
The river really comes to life when it is warm in Bratislava, with couples sitting on benches watching the sun set over the river and everyone enjoying dinner or a drink in a boat or cafe riverside. Today we filmed, among other things, a famous Slovak actor on his boat, which is a bar and art gallery.
I am excited to learn that we will be going on a speed boat trip on the river, and filming in Vienna and Budapest to capture the old-city atmosphere that illustrates how the Danube connects ancient Roman history to today. Also, I have learned that our esteemed colleagues here in Bratislava have obtained the 1989 footage of people crossing the river freely for the first time during the revolution, so we can illustrate how the river that once divided as the iron curtain is now a symbol of unity and is enjoyed freely by all. More to come!
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