COMMON ROADS
Pilgrimage and Backpacking in the 21st Century
Documentary film / 2013
95 min. / Swiss, German, English, Spanish, French with English Subtitles
FILMFESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
∙ International Anthropological Filmfestival Ho Chi Minh City / Vietnam
(Pre-Screening 2012)
∙ International Ethnographic Filmfestival Kratovo / Macedonia (2013)
∙ Intimate Lens - Festival of Visual Anthropology, Caserta / Italy (2013)
∙ Days of Ethnografic Film, Ljubljana / Slovenia (2014)
∙ Espiello Muestra de Documental Etnografico, Boltana / Spain (2014)
∙ Centre for Religion, Economy and Politics, Zurich / Switzerland (2014)
∙ NAFA Int. Ethnographic Film Festival, Isafjordur / Iceland (2014)
∙ European Association of Social Anthropologists, Conference and
Festival, Tallinn / Estonia (2014)
∙ Road Art Festival, Varbuse / Estonia (2014)
∙ Infocenter Triglavska, Bled / Slovenia (2014)
∙ Regard Bleu Ethnographic Filmfestival, Zurich / Switzerland (2014)
∙ Etnofilm Cadca – International Festival on Ethnology and
Anthropology, Cadca / Slovakia (2014)
∙ House of Religions, Berne / Switzerland (2014)
∙ Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival / Greece (2014)
∙ Antropofest – International Festival of Movies with Anthropological
Themes, Prague / Czech Republic (2015)
∙ Trento Film Festival, Trento / Italy (2015)
∙ RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film, Bristol / UK (2015)
∙ Opuzen Film Festival, Opuzen / Croatia (2015)
∙ International TV Festival Bar, Bar / Monte Negro (2015)
∙ Visual Fest, Universita Degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome / Italy (2015)
AWARDS
∙ Premio Menzione Speziale, Visual Fest, Universita Degli Studi
Roma Tre, Rome / Italy (2015)
SYNOPSIS
Whereas the label of «pilgrim» is still mostly associated with devout persons leaving home for purely religious motives, young people taking to the road as «backpackers» are generally perceived as pleasure seeking globetrotters. Questioning these stereotypes, anthropologist and filmmaker Tommi Mendel followed one young woman along the Way of St. James through France and Spain and another one along backpacking-routes through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Documenting their experiences and encounters over a period of three years, this film reveals intriguing parallels on various levels between what at first glance appear as two different ways of travelling.
TRAILER
TEAM
Tommi Mendel
director, research, interviews, camera, sound, editing
© tigertoda productions 2016 | +41-79-330 9422 | tommi@tigertoda.ch | Kilchbergstr. 37, 8038 Zurich, Switzerland