SB-issue59_digital

Documentary by Matty Hannon
Each of these Zapatista
rebels, Amazonian shamans,
and Mapuche leaders
describe the harsh
consequences of today’s
dominant systems, and how
their ancient lifestyles
have conflicted with the
modern attitude that humans
are separate from, and even
superior to, nature.
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“As a filmmaker, you have the privilege to help them share that story. It
comes with a lot of responsibility, but without a doubt that’s my favourite
part. Often, we used music, imagery, and the ‘feeling’ of the story to convey
those ideas, rather than over-explain them with words and language.”
That’s the great thing about The Road to Patagonia. As such a passionate
dirtbag production, it excels at communicating ideas like animism – the belief
that all things, places, and creatures have some kind of spiritual essence.
It’s a gorgeous-looking film, simply because what you see is what you
get – nature and humanity in its rawest form, with few fancy techniques or
overcomplicated edits to mask that.
To that end, I was both surprised and delighted to hear that the cameras
Matty used were relatively cheap by today’s standards, and even archaic by
today’s average video specs.
“I used DSLR cameras for the most part – a Canon 5D Mark2 and a Sony
A7s. Most phones shoot better footage these days. Actually, I even used
phone footage in the film a few times as well.
“People get so hung up on the tech, like the best films are shot on RED
or whatever, but at the end of the day, the best cakes aren’t baked in a
particular oven. It’s story over everything for me.
“I had a drone at the start, but at one point it was stolen and I lost all of the
footage along with it. Funnily enough, I’m now stoked we don’t have any
drone footage in the film. It’s given the scenes a close and personal feeling.”
Shooting the Road to Patagonia was one thing, but editing it was something
entirely different. After arriving home in one piece, Matty lived in an old rusty
caravan, trading work on a nearby farm for free rent so he could afford to
continue editing the film.
As it turns out, the difficulties Matty faced on his precarious journey across
the length of the world paled in compassion to waking up and summoning
the motivation to sit at a computer for up to ten hours a day… for four years
straight.
Hearing this, my heart certainly broke for him. Thankfully, with the help of a
small team, he eventually figured out how to turn 16 years of footage into a
one-and-a-half-hour documentary, which Matty said was the gnarliest puzzle.
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“Editing was tough, but getting funding for post-production was an elating
milestone, as prior to then, everything had been such a battle.
“A highlight was discovering the language around animism. That was a big
breakthrough. Then, Daniel Norgren offered to provide music for the film,
which was incredible. He’s so talented and evocative.
“I knew then, seven years in, that we were gonna make a special little film. I’d
never make it again this way in the future, but ironically, the difficulties of this
film are also its strengths. The harder it got, the more the film benefitted.”
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