The shooting took place without any financial contribution from Reunion Island. NHK has funded the entire project at a cost of more than 60,000 euros.
TOKYO – The Japanese explore Reunion Island’s nature. A team of NHK, Japan’s public national broadcaster, is currently filming in Reunion Island. Specialized in reporting on natural sites in UNESCO’s program called “Great Nature,” the Japanese public has an opportunity to travel to distant lands. The program on Reunion Island, which will be broadcast in prime time in November, will highlight the lush and unspoiled nature of the island, particularly its canyons.
It has been three weeks since Kazuma Fujiyama, production manager for NHK, has been on Reunion Island in the company of Kazumasa Takigawa, director, and a cameraman and a soundman. The draft for this shoot was born from an encounter between Kazumasa Takigawa and Yoichi Naruse. The latter is a specialist Sawanobori, a kind of reverse canyoning consisting of climbing waterfalls. Eager to explore Reunion Island’s canyons, he saw his dream become a reality thanks to the filming of the show “Great Nature.” For the record, the director has a name that predestined him to turn this report, as his name Takigawa means waterfall (taki) and river (gawa)!
After a week of scouting locations in March and a second week in May, made possible through the support of the Reunion Island Tourism Board (IRT), the axis was selected among many other proposed as follows: Reunion Island, a volcanic island formed by the waterfalls. “Great Nature” offers an overview of the waterfalls of the island, including their integration into the Reunion Island landscape, a meeting with a farmer specializing in watercress and whose operation is located at the foot of the Voile de la Mariee waterfall, and an imaging of the TV team from their encounter with Ricaric, the oldest professional canyoning organization on the island. Emeric Beaucheron, a caving guide, is the author of a special guidebook on the canyons. When he saw the NHK team knocking on Ricaric’s door, with the topographical guide in hand, that Emeric Beaucheron understood: the topographical guide of the canyons of Reunion Island goes to Japan!
Reunion Island, which is celebrating the third anniversary of the listing of its Pitons, cirques and ramparts UNESCO World Heritage, finds itself in the spotlight in this 90-minute documentary dedicated to landscapes and topography of the island. Reunion Island, a new destination for the Japanese, has a real card to play on the world stage, as pointed out by Agnes Lavaud Ricaric, manager.
First to create a 90-minute documentary for educational purposes for multicast NHK national television; and second for the production of a 30-minute format that will be offered for sale for export and translated into several languages.
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