Written by on Feb 9, 2012. Posted in On Location

Jacaranda Films finds laidback attitudes amid the traffic filming on location in Angola

Jacaranda Films, based in Argentina and Uruguay, has filmed in Angola for mobile operator Movicel. Timing was one of the biggest challenges faced by the production team in a country not accustomed to the fast-paced work schedules that is the everyday reality in much of the rest of the world.

Angola lies in southern Africa and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Namibia. The country has a film production industry but it’s not substantial. There’s no film commission and it lacks the relative international profiles of Namibia and South Africa.

The challenge was how to make the crew understand our way of working. We had a very tight schedule, a lot of locations to shoot and we needed to move very fast.

Rosario Massot, Jacaranda

Rosario Massot was Producer for Jacaranda: “The challenge was how to make the crew understand our way of working. We had a very tight schedule, a lot of locations to shoot and we needed to move very fast. They were not used to running all the time, as we do, so it was challenging to communicate our production needs without hurting anyone’s feeling. We are all part of this industry that has a bit of an ego, so feelings can be hurt easily.”

The lack of punctuality meant the talent were called to the set each day some three hours before they were actually needed to allow time for lateness. On the plus side the production team spent time with some charismatic local stars like rap star Puto Portugues.

Tight scheduling wasn’t helped by local traffic, especially in the capital city of Luanda on the country’s Atlantic coast. Noiriel comments: “The traffic is absolutely crazy. We could take an hour to travel 15km in the car, so that was a big challenge. Luanda’s traffic is known to be the worst worldwide, so we had to be very careful with our shooting plan to avoid traffic at all times. Our timing was pretty much based on our experience in Luanda’s traffic jams; we kept it in our heads all the time!”

The traffic is absolutely crazy. We could take an hour to travel 15km in the car, so that was a big challenge. Luanda’s traffic is known to be the worst worldwide.

Rosario Massot, Jacaranda

Jacaranda hired a few lights locally and used mirrors and flares to plug the gaps. They travelled with their own cameras and lenses, as well as four metres of tracks and a basic dolly. Aside from Director Pablo Casacuberta, Jacaranda’s Producer and the Director of Photography, the crew were all hired locally.

Massot concludes: “Always ask people for anything with a smile. Angolan people like to have fun and laugh. If you want to get along with your team, then it is in your best interests to always ask for things smiling and to make as many jokes as possible on set if you want them to be motivated and focus.”

Credits:
Client: Movicel
Agency: NAD
Production Company: Jacaranda Films
Producer: Rosario Massot
Executive Producer: Rémi Noiriel
Director: Pablo Casacuberta