A team from the Spanish Television program “Pueblo de Dios” traveled to Brazil in April to film documentaries about the ministries of the Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentine. This collaboration arose from the centenary of the Augustinian Recollects’ presence in the Amazon.
Two of the programs will be dedicated to the Prelature of Lábrea, while the third will focus on the Saint Monica’s Home in Fortaleza (Ceará). It is possible that two more programs will be produced in the future using the remaining material.
Preparations began several months before the cameras started rolling. At Prado del Rey, RTVE’s headquarters, the message, approaches, and themes were agreed upon, and documentation was provided until a conclusion was reached: it was necessary to show, above all, the value of hope in the missionaries’ work.
Then came the meticulous planning: official permits, casting, scheduling, travel arrangements, health and safety protocols, and the work of the communities in Amazonas and Ceará… Nothing could be left to chance. All of this required the approval of RTVE executives, who had to ensure that everything complied with the standard regulations of the Corporation and its unions.
Four professionals went to Brazil: the screenwriter and coordinator of the final result of the documentaries; the director, responsible for editing and image; and two photojournalists with a very trained eye from more than fifteen years of experience who were in charge of recording, lighting and sound.
During their fifteen days in Brazil, they worked with admirable intensity. While natural light allowed, they captured over 35 hours of footage, which will be condensed into three to five 25-minute programs, capturing the essence of what the Augustinian Recollect Family cultivates daily in Brazil.
Many beautiful things happened. In Fortaleza, a connection was forged between the team and the beneficiaries and staff of the Saint Monica’s Home. They were amazed to see how affection, welcome, and dedication heal deep wounds and rebuild broken lives.
Despite being used to facing reality to tell it, there were moments of special emotion, and more than one interview had to be paused because of the tears of the interviewees or even the interviewer: “In more than thirty years, something like this had never happened to me,” he confessed.
Moments of special amazement for visitors were the journey along the Trans-Amazonian Highway from Porto Velho to Lábrea or the outboard motor trips on the Purus River, exposed to the sun, wind, rain, or even with the fear of not arriving before sunset, with the danger of the enormous logs floating in the waters, in many cases only visible to those with extensive sailing experience.
Television has its own rhythms and language, and we’ll discover the final result starting this Sunday. For now, we do know the impression the team has taken away, which some have conveyed through specific testimonials:
- “I will never forget the look in those girls’ eyes. I wanted to pass on my energy and confidence to them so they could dream big and become the people they want to be”
- “Dignity, community, and happiness describe what I have found on my missions in Brazil”
In the Amazon, they have been particularly struck by the value of accompaniment, the strength of community life, and the importance of standing alongside those forgotten by other institutions in this isolated world. They have seen how faith and hope are sown among those who, facing great difficulties, rise each morning with the certainty that God walks with them and know that they are not alone.
And they have witnessed the power of love that heals wounds and restores hope in Fortaleza, a project that left the four members of the television team stunned by the magnitude of the task and the consequences of the welcome.
