Brazil Day 14 - Filming for Television

On Thursday, we were allowed to get up individually, which was necessary considering the late arrival at the coffee plantation. When the last ones crawled out of their makeshift beds around 9:30 am, a surprise awaited them. A television crew had arrived at the Fazenda and wanted to immediately photograph us in choir uniforms. So we tried to dress up as quickly as possible and not look too tired. The coffee from the plantation definitely did a good job of waking us up!

Then it was time for the filming: with the help of our musical performances, a commercial about the plantation and its coffee would be created. The first scenario was a staged coffee gathering, in which we, as a choir, formed a loose arrangement around a set table. We sang 'Loreley', a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher. For the optimal shots, this song had to be filmed multiple times with different camera angles. For the recording of Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida', we positioned ourselves in front of the front rows of plants on the plantation and were filmed by a drone. We then performed the third piece, 'Kwela Kwela', both in front of the coffee plantation and in front of a small chapel - an outdoor altar that was limited by a few walls. After that, some of us were filmed visiting the plantation as visitors. A few interviews for the commercial were also filmed. Finally, everything was recorded and we spent the rest of the day at the Fazenda.

Most of us were probably busy with the many cute baby cats that live here and entertained us splendidly. But we also fully enjoyed the coffee that the Vidigal family seemingly served us in abundance. After a delicious lunch, we were introduced to the work and production of the coffee plantation. The Vidigal family has been running it for five years. The plantation we were staying on covers 100 hectares of land. The fresh coffee beans are sold all over the world without being roasted. The beans can only be harvested during a certain time of the year. The plantation owners actually want to provide jobs for the people in the village, where there is also great poverty, by using the people for the harvest. However, taxes and money force them to use machines for the harvest. Nevertheless, they try to employ as many people as possible and give them the opportunity to do manual labor on the plantation. In addition to this plantation that we visited, the Vidigal family owns four more. Together, they cover about 280 hectares. The quality of the coffee is always determined by the climate and the altitude at which the plantation is located. This plantation owned by the Vidigal family is located about 900 meters above sea level. This location is very good for the quality of the coffee, because the higher the plantation is, the richer the taste.

After this interesting lecture, we made our way through the coffee plants to a small artificial lake and also visited the garden of the Fazenda, where tangerines, avocados, and some other delicious fruits were growing. Around 5:00 pm, we left the plantation with our buses and embarked on a night drive to Salvador after a hearty dinner at a rest stop.