Kickstarter
funding is being sought for a documentary film, On the Footsteps of
the Prince, the
prince in question being HRH Prince Charles.
He has visited Romania repeatedly since 1997, and has a holiday home at
Viscri in Transylvania. The idea of the
film is to explore why he has taken such an interest in Transylvania,
and use his
involvement in the region and its conservation as a peg to promote the area
further.
Subtitled ‘The story about a hidden
paradise’, which goes some way to answering that question, the film will focus
on the landscape which has so captivated Prince Charles. The intention is to capture ‘the other side’
of Romania which, in the words of the Kickstarter statement is ‘peaceful’, ‘serene’
and ‘beautiful’.
Bucharest-born artist and filmmaker Nono
Pirvu Lucian is behind the project and he has launched a campaign to raise
£20,000 to fund it. There are various
rewards available to those who make donations.
As at this writing there are not many days left to run and it is fair to
say that the total raised so far is well shy of the target.
Tied in with the film there is an
associated website, which is still under construction. It will highlight parts of Romania so far
little visited by tourists, with information on suitable places to stay, in an
effort to advance the sort of sustainable tourism that Prince Charles is keen
to encourage.
It
is a worthy project, and it would be good to see it succeed, though I’m not
sure Transylvania is quite as neglected as Lucian says. It has attracted filmmakers in the past, not
least Charlie Ottley who made the Wild Carpathia series, for which he interviewed Prince Charles. I hope the title is amended before the film
is released so that it reads In the
Footsteps of the Prince.
The Kickstarter page is here:
The project’s website is here:
A press release is on the Digital Journal
website:
