AÏLLATS, the memory of Columbretes

It is an audiovisual project, a documentary on the feelings of the inhabitants of the archipelago of the Columbretes islands and some notable events that have taken place in the islands since they began to be inhabited in 1856.

The small Columbretes archipelago, located 30 miles off the coast of Castellón, consists of four groups of uninhabitable rocks, except the largest of the islands, the Illa Grossa, little island of just 14 ha. Nobody lived there until 1856, when the lighthouse was built.

Its inhabitants were mainly lighthouse keepers and their families. They stayed in the archipelago for long periods of time and maintained contact with precarious land Travs radio. The living supplies and news were irregularly brought by a ship.

Living conditions were unique. The isolation imposed austerity and the need for a high degree of self-reliance that were necessary to face everyday situations such as births or deaths in a place where mostly 5 to 10 people lived together.

Throughout the 125 years, numerous episodes, some of great interest, have occurred in the archipelago. Illa Grossa's famines have reared their heads, storms, echoes of war and happy moments every now and then. The Archduke Luis Salvador of Austria, author of the first monography on Columbretes and many others from many parts of the Mediterranean, were in the islands in 1893. Also the troops of General Franco were there during the War of 36. Hundreds of fishermen who, thanks to the hospitality of the islanders, were able to escape and unwind during their long, hard days of fishing, anchored there.

In our project we aim to recover the memory of the years lived by the only stable human colony; record people who inhabited the islands as living testimony to what living in the lighthouse was like, transcribe this information and launch a documentary whose provisional title is "AÏLLATS, the memory of Columbretes".

CONTRIBUTIONS DESTINATION

Money will be destined to pay the expenses of the shoot, realization, installation, publication and documentary diffusion, payments to colaborators, carrying out the contents of the DVD, interviews to different protagonists of the documentary (travel expenses, etc.) and expenses arising from this crowdfunding campaign.

CALENDAR

If we get the the funding, we will be able to continue with the shooting that has already began. We estimate to finish shooting between May and September in order to later make assembly and editing.

When will I receive the rewards?

• The rewards associated with the DVD documentary will be effective once the work has been published.

• The rewards associated with the Columbretes boat trip will take place between summer of 2014 and 2015. On the organization of the trip we will have the consideration of the patron preferences, such as availability of ship, and of the organizational needs of the project managers.

Vist us on the project’s facebook! We are 1675 members and this number increases every day: Facebook Aïllats, la memòria de Columbretes.

You can also watch our teasers here: Teaser Aïllats, la memòria de Columbretes.