The island of Pag has transformed into a film set, as the documentary film “Four Seasons on Pag”, which aims to showcase the authentic gastronomic offer of the island, is underway, reports HRTurizam on January 29, 2019.
The authors of the project are Fabijan Oštarić and Rene Bakalović, and the idea of the documentary came to life after a short journey to the area and an informal conversation about food. Produced by the Zagreb company Fare, the outlines and figures of this exciting project are only just beginning.
The aim of the project is to present the island of Pag in several episodes that are divided into four seasons while telling the story of the island’s history, archaeological sites, tradition, culture, and gastronomy.
“Four Seasons on Pag” is a series of four documentaries, and as Rene Bakalović points out, the series intends to confirm the basic thesis that Pag is, in the gastronomic sense, perhaps the most interesting island in the Mediterranean.
“The great ambition we had when we came into the project was confirmed after filming the first winter episode. It deals with the interlocutors to the recorded material and the support we have encountered on the island. We are observing the gastronomy in the broadest civilizational context, from the relationship with nature, top ingredients, culinary tradition, rituals, up to modern culinary adventures and new tourist ‘rituals’.
We have set up the most technical and artistic standards to successfully distribute the series to the world after the show in Croatia. Our approach to the topic is more ‘cinematic’ than television, although it is a television series. This refers to the style, dynamics and the desire that the shelf life of our series is longer than usual. As we will naturally record significantly more attractive material than we will use in the final version, small thematic entities will be published on social networks, which we want to rise to the level of an attractive portal about Pag,” said Bakalović, adding that all people and institutions with a connection to Pag are invited to join the accompanying segment of the project.
Interestingly, the entire team decided to start the project themselves and attract the partners and sponsors through the contacts in the film, which seems to be a different strategy, though one that the authors believe will succeed for the financial structure and completing the filming and postproduction of this year.
“We will only reveal some details, like how the first pilot shows winter on the island; from sewing Pag lace and the production of Pag cheese to the production of baškotin in the Benedictine Monastery of Sv. Margarite, the preparation of authentic dishes and performances of the KUD Bartol Kašić, cooking a modern version of lamb tripe in Boškinac, visiting olive groves in Lun that are over a thousand years old, and filming a storm in Žigljen,” said Fabijan Oštarić.
The filmmakers return to Pag in the spring to continue filming the new series.
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