VilaWeb - Diari escola: Magic Journey to Africa

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dijous, 2 de gener de 2025

> Filming at more than 44º C

> Jana...

> ...looking for the meaning of life

dimarts, 4 de maig de 2010

Friday, 7 May sees the opening of 'Magic Journey to Africa', a 3D film that is packed full of adventures, imagination and magic, which transports us to the heart of the African continent to discover the meaning of life.

'Magic Journey to Africa' is suitable for all ages, and is especially aimed at children. It is the first European feature film that includes real images, animation and visual effects. It is in 3D, a format that is currently in vogue after films like 'Avatar' and 'Alice in Wonderland'.

The main character is Jana, played by Eva Gerretsen. The cast includes famous names, such as Verónica Blume, (who plays Jana's mother), Adrià Collado (in the role of Jana's father), and Leonor Watling, who plays a rather remarkable fairy.

The film is directed by Jordi Llompart, for many years a TV3 news reader and currently general manager of Orbita Max, a leading production company for large format films. In 2005, Llompart directed 'Mystery of the Nile', the first Catalan film (and the first in the Spanish state) in IMAX format.

'Magic Journey to Africa' is based on 'El cor damunt la sorra' ('The Heart Over the Sand'), written by Llompart after the death of his daughter Jana in an accident in Africa. However, Llompart has said the film's story is not about his daughter.

Filming at more than 44º C

+ The director, Jordi Llompart.

'Magic Journey to Africa' was filmed in Barcelona and in two African countries: Namibia and South Africa. Filming was far from easy. Making a 3D film uses equipment that is far heavier than that required in conventional filmmaking. Added to that were temperatures in excess of 40º C (even reaching as high as 44º C at times) in the African savannah and desert, along with the need to film animals, which, of course, do not have the same discipline as people; they do their own thing.

Jana...

+ Mel (Raymond Mvula) and Jana (Eva Gerretsen).

As we said earlier, Jana is the film's main character. She is sensitive, intelligent and naturally inquisitive. In Barcelona, Jana gets to know a bushman boy called Kabbo, who is in hospital. Moved by the encounter, Jana decides to set off on an imaginary trip to the Namibian desert, accompanied by her loyal winged horse. There, she becomes good friends with Mel, who travels with her whenever he can and joins in her efforts to find Kabbo.

...looking for the meaning of life

+ Jana discovers a place where trees, plants and animals are able to talk.

On her African adventure, Jana discovers a land of dreams, of imagination and magical beings; a place where trees, plants and animals are able to talk. Our heroine learns many things from her trip: the things that are most important, in fact, that make life worth living.

MATERIALS

'Viatge màgic a Àfrica'
Format:Web
Pàgina oficial d'aquest film en 3D. També en anglès i espanyol.
Viaje mágico a África
Format:PDF
Guia sobre el continent africà (en català a partir del 10 de maig).
Orbita Max
Format:Web
Productora del film, dirigida per Jordi Llompart.
Àfrica
Format:Web
Enciclopèdia Catalana.
Jordi Llompart parla del film 'Viatge màgic a Àfrica'
Format:Web
Vídeo de Televisió Espanyola a Catalunya.
Fenomen 3D
Format:Web
Notícia del Diari de l'escola (gener del 2010).

QUE HO SABIES?

It took fourteen weeks to film 'Magic Journey to Africa': eight in Namibia, three in South Africa and three in Barcelona.
The director, Jordi Llompart, wanted the three leading child characters to be African, which is why he held the casting in Namibia.