travellers and filmmakers…
the thing about travelling is that it can be a great leveller…when you’re stuck on a moutain pass with another couple of hundred kilometers to go…rain clouds glaring down…not a soul in sight, only a broken mud track snaking into the distance…or when you stop for a breather by the side of the highway to break bread with a couple of enthusiastic construction workers…that’s when all that you’ve learnt all this while in your city schools and homes goes flying out of the window…travelling can be a great leveller…
Werner Herzog, on being asked if he would like to start a film school said …actually, for some time now I have given some thought to opening a film school. But if I did start one up you would only be allowed to fill out an application form after you have walked alone on foot, let’s say from Madrid to Kiev, a distance of about five thousand kilometres. While walking, write. Write about your experiences and give me your notebooks. I would be able to tell who had really walked the distance and who had not. While you are walking you would learn much more about filmmaking and what it truly involves than you ever would sitting in a classroom. During your voyage you will learn more about what your future holds than in five years at film school. Your experiences would be the very opposite of academic knowledge, for academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion…
mentalsyrup 
Traveling on overcrowded local trains can be a great leveller too…
Nice pic that of the bike on the hill
I so agree with it dude…. One doesn’t need to go to a film school(unless one needs to do a specialisation) It’s out there on the road, go and explore it.
Cheers
sujoy – the locals definitely are a great way to travel…but a solo bike ride is a different head-rush!
anshul – i like the caveat in the brackets! haahaaa! go crack that film school dude!
I so agree! and i’ll quote justine shapiro, who is one of my fav travelers/anchor from the globe trekker series…”People think that when they travel somewhere they’re going to go and learn about that place. I think what happens a lot is that people go and learn about themselves.”