The Great Way

Episodes - (4 X 60')

SYNOPSIS

Alba and Raul are a couple of young Spanish filmmakers living in Santiago de Compostela, the European capital of hikers. Alba has been walking past the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in her daily routine for years, watching with curiosity the emotional faces of the pilgrims who come to the end of the Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago). The tears, the hugs, the joy. She has never made the Way and is full of questions: Why this need to walk? There are many hiking and pilgrimage routes in the world, Why do people from all around the world walk? What makes you leave the comfort of your home to embark on an adventure that can last for months, walking under the inclement weather, often in a superhuman endeavour?

In search of answers, Alba and Raul get their backpacks ready and start their journey around the world greatest walking trails, a journey that will take them from Japan to Peru, passing through the United States and also making the Santiago Way, looking for hikers and pilgrims of all kinds of routes: natural, spiritual and cultural. They will find as many stories and reasons for walking as people, and will share with them experiences and suffering, bringing them closer to the spectators, discovering the hidden universes within the different paths of the world. But they will not only share experiences with travellers. In their journey of discovery, they will learn about the social issues and injustices of each country, sharing concerns with locals whose destiny is bounded to the trails.

Our protagonists will realize that, in the end, all paths are just a bridge to discover new places, people and cultures, as well as ourselves, and that the fact that borders cannot contain the walking nature of human beings. Nature knows no boundaries, and for many walls that are built, walking the different paths of the world does nothing more than open our eyes and make us more aware of our surroundings, more respectful with nature, appreciate more the diversity, feel more united and see that in the end, we are all part of something very fragile. That depends on our care, and the answer to the question of why people walk, may also be answered with where we want to go as a society. The ultimate "Great Way" would be the path of life, a journey that all of us take and, ultimately, the most important of all the routes.