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LIFE IN FUERTEVENTURA, What to see in Fuerteventura ?
Shooting in Fuerteventura
Dec
The unique landscapes of Canary Islands have always captivated and attracted thousands of artists from all over the world. First they were engravers and painters, then photographers, and for more than 125 years it has been film directors who have immortalized our islands.
Film pioneers
The Canary Islands have a very close relationship with the beginnings of photography and cinema in Spain. Just a few months after the Lumière brothers opened the doors of cinema to the world, the first shooting was made in the Canary Islands. In 1896 the film women of Tenerife island supplying coal to ships of the squad is considered one of the first films in our country. It was shot by Gabriel Veyre, one of the operators sent by the Lumière to record the world with his new invention.
Shooting in Fuerteventura
Since the industrialization of cinema, small and large productions have chosen the Canary Islands for their filming. You just need to take a walk through Fuerteventura to contemplate that the landscape is a true natural set. The different film directors have taken advantage of this. In this sense, fantasy cinema takes the cake. Using the nature of Fuerteventura to create other different worlds and turning this idyllic place into a hostile and dangerous territory.
Fuerteventura landscapes are so unique that they have covered a wide spectrum of natural settings on the big screen. They have represented from a fictional prehistory, in “When the dinosaurs ruled the Earth”, to the planet Corellia in various episodes of the “Star Wars” saga.
In the first half of the 20th century and the following decade, the cinematographic recordings made in Fuerteventura were documentaries that showed the natural beauties, the folklore and the customs of the island. Among the most outstanding films of this period, we find: Cruise of the cruise “Diana”, Holidays in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, The Fortunate Islands, Poker de Sol, and the feature film “Fuerteventura, the great island of the future”.
If we talk about non-documentary films, with actors, shot in Fuerteventura, then we can say that the German film “Paquito, oder die Welt von unten”, (1968) was one of the first. This movie is based on the children’s stories by James Krügel.
At the end of that same year, the film director Val Guest settled in Fuerteventura to shoot the first blockbuster made on the island. In “When the dinosaurs ruled the Earth” the main actress Victoria Vetri, embodies the figure of Sanna, a warrior leader who has to fight against the dinosaurs.
Since then until now, the film industry has not stopped landing in Fuerteventura to shoot scenes. However, there is no doubt that the arrival of Ridley Scott with his film Exodus put the island in the spotlight of major productions. Here we leave you some of them.
– Mine (2012). The Dunes of Corralejo are the hot desert of the Middle East. In them, the soldier played by Armie Hammer, is trapped after stepping on a mine, and will have to survive the dangers of the desert, while facing the psychological effects of such a dire situation.
– The ironic film The Dictator (2012) The Dunes of Corralejo and El Cotillo are perfect settings to represent the Republic of Wadiya, ruled by Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen).
– 12 + 1, a metaphysical comedy (2012) – Here Las Dunas de Corralejo become, once again, the desert through which picturesque characters wander in search of something that only “the Master” knows.
– Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014). In this film, the film director Ridley Scott chose the base of Las Peñitas to create a small town where Moisés (Christian Bale) and his wife, Séfora, played by the actress María Valverde, would live. Cofete became the Red Sea, the surroundings of the Casa de los Coroneles in part of Egypt, and many others corners of Fuerteventura in an unique adventure.
– La Isla del Viento (2015) tells the experience of the Bilbao writer Miguel de Unamuno during his exile in Fuerteventura for his opposition to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.
– In Allied(2016), a film starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, Corralejo and the surrounding enclaves of the Enchanted ravine, became the French protectorate of Morocco in 1942.
– El Faro de las Orcas (2016). In this film starring Maribel Verdú and Joaquín Furriel, the coast of Fuerteventura is the Argentine Patagonia.
– In Han Solo (2017) and The Ascent of Skywalker (2019) the arenas of Agualiques, south of Fuerteventura, become the setting where these two episodes of the Star Wars saga take place
– Solo(2018) – A true story. Álvaro Vizcaíno, in search of the perfect wave, rushes down a cliff in the most inaccessible area of the island. What was to be an incredible sports day is transformed into 48 hours of extreme agony. With a badly injured body and a broken hip, he must overcome a ruthless nature and face his own fears to try to survive.
– In 2018 Jandía and the Dunas de Corralejo Natural Park are also present in the Wonder Woman 1984film, starring Gal Gadot. Fuerteventura is represented as Themiscira, the fictional country where Wonder Woman comes from. The island is also one of the enclaves where the superheroine has to travel in her constant fight against evil.
– The man who killed Don Quixote (2018). In this surreal story, an old man is convinced that he is Don Quixote and mistakes Toby, an advertising executive, for his faithful squire, Sancho Panza.
– The Eternals (2019). Marvel movie starring Angelina Jolie tells the story of ancient aliens who have been secretly living on Earth for thousands of years. Shot in Las Peñitas, the Pájara shooting range and other enclaves on the island.
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