Mana, Beyond Belief

This documentary by  directors/writers Peter Friedman and Roger Manley is a visual and musical journey that reminds me a bit of Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi. If you enjoyed these two films, you'll probably enjoy this one too. One important difference is that Mana has narration.

The views of this film will find themselves travelling all over the world from the Maori culture and farther on to many other places, witnessing places, objects and rituals of significance to people of many different cultures.

I borrowed this film and shared it with some friends of mine who were grateful to share this visual journey with me.

A quote from this film: "Every culture on earth carries its own mana."

Here are a few scenes from Mana, Beyond Belief:

The Way

It's a different type of road movie and it's also a father-son story. Tom Avery (played by Martin Sheen) gets the news that his son Daniel (played by Sheen’s son Emilio Estevez) has died in France. When Tom goes to France to claim his son’s body, he learns that his son was in the process of taking the pilgrimage called “El Camino de Santiago.” 

Scene from the film of pilgrims on "The Way."

Tom decides to go on this pilgrimage. The rest of this film tells the story of Tom’s journey and the interesting cast of characters he meets and travels with along “the way.”
The way is in France and Spain. Part of it goes through Basque country. Here's an aside: Basque culture is quite interesting and their area's economy has been invigorated by the growth of Worker Cooperatives. For those of you curious to know more about the topic of Basque and Worker Cooperatives, check it out.

Emilio Estevez also directed and wrote the screenplay. I found it to be an entertaining and heartwarming film.

It's interesting to note that Emilio's son fell in love with and married a young woman while he was in Northern Spain. He decided to live there with her.

Here's the trailer:

"Camping Gear Rack"