The documentary “Wild El Salvador”, by British presenter Nigel Marven, has shown its first glimpses these days, after Marven himself published some images that can be seen in the full material when it is officially released, thus generating a lot of expectation around a production that seeks to portray the beauty and natural wealth of El Salvador.
Marven arrived in El Salvador for the first time on November 24, 2021, with the idea of portraying the beauty of the natural landscape that the country has and showing it to the world. The documentarian continues with his journey, discovering the treasures that exist in the Salvadoran land.
To learn more about the details of the documentary and its production process, Diario El Salvador spoke with Julio Cesar Acosta, a national tourism guide specializing in bird watching and location manager for the documentary, who described this feature film as a “letter of love for El Salvador.
“A love letter to El Salvador”
“The documentary, really, is a love letter to El Salvador. Nigel visited with me in November 2021, and that was pretty much the inspiration for the documentary. On that visit, we went to many more places than we have filmed. After that trip, he contacted the Ministry of the Environment, and they agreed to make the documentary. I have been in charge of all the logistics and investigative parts of the production before the recording team came, ” he said.
«The same Ministry (of the Environment) supported us, and we were able to film in three stages. We developed the first one in April 2022, in the dry season. At that time, we shot everything we could pull off in that season. We filmed torogoces, spider monkeys, and in the mountains, rattlesnakes and other species. Then, we did a second stage in the rainy season, at the end of August, to be able to film the Nejapa Fireball Festival,” Acosta explained.
The bird watcher also explained that “we caught fire like four or five times that night, but it was a great experience filming it.” “The cameraman, one of the best at National Geographic, was delighted with that and all the experiences. At that stage, we had already filmed crocodiles, pital salamanders, pumas, hummingbirds, and other species that we had recorded in various sectors of Chalatenango, “he added.
El Salvador: an impressive paradise.
The expert also pointed out that Marven had been very impressed with the Salvadoran natural landscape since his first visit in 2021. Once the work began, Marven’s fascination continued to increase, not only for the natural wealth but also for the warmth of the Salvadoran people and for the closeness that exists between each natural paradise in El Salvador.
«He loved the whole Salvadoran landscape. He loved it very much. During the filming he was amazed by the proximity between places that exists in El Salvador, that in one morning we were in one place, and at night we were in another natural paradise. The whole experience completely fascinated him,” Acosta remarked.
For Acosta, this material seeks to “make the people of El Salvador fall in love.” “In my personal case, it is about showing the country the beauty of our landscapes and our fauna. For me, it’s important that people see everything we have. In the documentary, we want to show the country. I have been a tourist guide for more than 20 years, and I love that, in this job, people will see an El Salvador that they will fall in love with; they will be amazed to know what we have”, he said.
From an environmental point of view, it is about making people fall in love with what we have. Sometimes it happens that we don’t value what we have and, therefore, don’t take care of it. The idea is that when people watch the documentary, they appreciate what we have, and an initiative is born to take care of it, to preserve it, to be better consumers, and not put the ecosystem at risk with everything we do. The intention is to educate people,” he added.
