Portugal is the country with incredible Atlantic Ocean coastal views, sublime castles and mystical wells, a gorgeous Capital city, and the second-largest city. And the ideal place for a documentary on any of these features! When doing documentary production in Portugal, here is what you should know before you begin.
Expectations from documentary production in Portugal
What you can expect from documentary production in Portugal depends on what you desire from your movie. If you’re in for a cultural story, Portugal is the right choice. It has incredible traditions, delicious foods, the most amazing producers of wine, as well as many folklore myths and legends worthy of a video story. Hiring extras and actors and finding people to be interviewed about these facts is not hard in the country, as most people are ready to talk about their impressive heritage.
Portugal is famous all over the world for its two main cities. Lisbon, the capital, is home to blue-tiled houses, superb monasteries, incredible bridges, beaches, and parks like none other. Porto, the next big city of Portugal, is the best choice if you’re looking into a more laid-back story, one that caters more to the people and less to the grandiose aspects of city living. It’s a miniature Lisbon, so to speak, but it offers the same level of culture, traditions, and stories to be told on video as the bustling capital.
In the end, it’s your choice where your documentary production in Portugal takes place. And what to expect from it, based on your ideas and requirements. The only thing to keep in your mind is that the Portuguese are very passionate people, including their heritage and local traditions. The last thing you want to do is to take that lightly. Show them that you do appreciate their country and culture, and they will immediately become your very best friends.
What to do documentaries about in Portugal
Documentary production in Portugal is the same challenge as is anywhere when it comes to the production part of the job. Portugal is the absolute heaven for this type of production in terms of topics to do a documentary about. There are so many incredible facts about this place, we’d need five more articles to be able to briefly note them all. If you’re not just about Lisbon, Porto, Sintra, and Cabo da Roca, the most famous landmarks of them all, here us out with these perfect documentary-ready facts about Portugal.
Portugal started the very first global empire, thanks to its brave soldiers and explorers. No wonder over 250 million people around the world speak Portuguese. Speaking of history, Lisbon is actually older than Rome! While Romans knew how to eat and drink, it’s Portugal which is one of the largest wine exporters on Earth. Their port wine is tangy and a bit sweet, and extremely flavourful. It works with any meal, especially desserts. Wine is a great source of energy, but Portugal needs none, as it is a leading producer of renewable energy.