The Algarve on Film by Paul Rouse
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If you are a moviegoer but have never been to the south of Portugal, imagine California without the traffic, smog, gun crime and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and you have a pretty good mental picture of what much of the Algarve is like.
From cypress-covered hillsides, vine-clad valleys and glorious beaches pounded by ocean waves, through to white-washed villages and the bell-towers of town square churches - all bathed in virtually year-round sun - the similarities between the two places in topography, climate and vernacular architecture are clearly evident. It’s surely no coincidence that the tag-line of Portugal’s current tourism promotion campaign is Europe’s West Coast - nor that the Algarve, a little belatedly perhaps, now has its own initiative to persuade filmmakers to use the region as a backdrop for movies, TV and photographic shoots.
Just starting to see the first fruits of its labours, the Algarve Film Commission (AFC) was launched in 2006 with a view to developing international awareness of the Algarve within the film industry, and the advantages offered to production companies, directors and photographers certainly mirror many of the reasons why Hollywood established itself in the first place back in the early days of cinema: a wide variety of locations, plenty of open space, warm sunny weather with long hours of daylight, and markedly reduced overheads.
Although a non-profit making organisation, the AFC has been set up under the auspices of the region’s tourist board, Turismo do Algarve, and the potential advantages, in terms of publicity and spin-off revenue, are significant. Neighbouring Andalucia of course has long been used by filmmakers as a stand-in for more further-flung locales, dating back to classics such as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns.
In recent years, other Mediterranean destinations including Morocco, Malta and Tunisia have all come to the forefront as movie locations, with the high profile of films like Alexander, Gladiator and The English Patient generating endless column inches of free PR for the countries in question, not to mention a fistful of dollars in tourism income.
It is easy to see why the Algarve should appeal to moviemakers. For a relatively small region, it offers an astonishing variety of look-alike options. The west coast above Vila do Bospo bears a striking resemblance to its Californian namesake, whilst the south west between Lagos and Cabo de Sao Vicente could easily be taken for Ireland, Cornwall, Northumberland and many other areas of rugged natural beauty.
Out of season, particularly, the old town of Albufeira has a sleepy Spanish-Mexican feel to it, whilst the so-called Golden Triangle between Vale Do Lobo, Quinta Do Lago and Almancil has more than enough golf courses and multi-million dollar houses to fool anybody into thinking you could be in Florida or Los Angeles. Add on the Spanish influences that are inevitably evident in the area around Tavira, and the rolling hills of the Caldeirao and Monchique ranges - not to mention the lagoons of Ria Formosa, the Moorish castles of Silves and Faro, and the modern marinas of Vilamoura and Portimao - and the versatility of the Algarve is indisputable.
Despite hosting a prestigious international film festival in Portimao since 1971 however, the Algarve has been a little slow to recognise the potential of playing a starring role itself in the film industry. Now, things are changing, and the AFC has started actively promoting the region to European and US film companies, organising a series of fact-finding visits by leading producers and location scouts.
It has also given its support to a proposed new film production studio to be built in Portimao, and to a number of recent projects shot partly on location in the Algarve, including Christopher Columbus: The Enigma, the true story of a doctor determined to prove that the legendary explorer was actually Portuguese, well received at last year’s Venice and Toronto film festivals: Call Girl, a thriller by Cannes award-winning Portuguese director Antonio-Pedro Vasconcelos; and The El Escorial Conspiracy, an historical epic set in 16th century Spain starring Julia Ormond and Harry Potter villain Jason Isaacs, which has just gone on general release.
The latter two films also co-star perhaps Portugal’s best-known actor, Joaquim de Almeida, familiar to TV viewers for his roles in 24 and CSI: Miami and to moviegoers for playing opposite Harrison Ford in Clear and Present Danger and Antonio Banderas in Desperado.
Aiming to use his influence in the industry, de Almeida has also taken an honorary position as Chairman of the Board of the AFC, helping to lobby local authorities to speed up the process of granting licences for filming movies, TV episodes, documentaries and photographic shoots, facilitating easier access to information about both locations for filming and existing facilities in the region, and encouraging the training of local technical specialists. “It’s estimated that on average 30% of a production’s budget is spent in the region where the film is made,” he explains, “so it’s essential to create jobs here in the Algarve, as well as raising the region’s profile with new audiences.”
Perhaps the real breakthrough for Portugal in the international film industry may have to wait until the country produces a genuine A-list actor like de Almeida’s co-star Antonio Banderas – a strong supporter of everything Spanish and currently in talks to film his own historical epic about the re-conquest of Andalucia within the walls of the Alhambra. But if you consider that until the formation of the AFC, about the only thing you are likely to have seen that was filmed in the Algarve would have been feature-length episodes of Eastenders or One Foot In The Grave, it’s a positive start.
Who knows where it could end? After all, turn the clock back a hundred years and Hollywood itself was nothing but a collection of orange groves.