Brad's Unique Journey

Bruce Von Stiers

Bancoco is a documentary film. It is about one man's journey to a place he'd been to years before. A place that he'd promised himself to go to again. That sounds like an easy travelogue. But the place is the Darien Rainforest in Panama.

Brad King was the youngest of four children, born and raised in New York. His father loved to travel and took the family to obscure places that normal tourists didn't go to. Brad himself is a bit of an explorer, travelling to places that most people don't go to. Much like his father.

In June of 1999, Brad travelled to Panama. It was there that he came across a tribe of people while exploring one of those off-the-beaten-path soiree's during his trip as he began to explore the Darien Rainforest.

Brad was taken in by a family to shield him at night from the dangerous creatures that lurked in the dark. He was treated like family, and he's always been grateful for their hospitality.

Brad in now embarking on a trip back to Panama, back to the Darien Rainforest. He wants to re-explore the forest and try to reconnect with the people he met on his first trip there. Brad is filmed at various stages in this new trip. And he narrates a good part of the film.

During Brad's narration there is footage from his first trip. This includes fishing and having a picture took of him with some of the children in the area. There is a scene where the children look at their picture in Brad's video camera screen. They are amazed, and amused, as they had never seen a picture of themselves. What the children are saying is displayed in English sub-titles. At that point of that interaction, Brad decided that one day he would return to the village with those photos of the children and their families. This is kind of how the film further explains Brad's intention on going back to Panama.

During one of the film's sequences, Brad has an interaction with his brother, recounting times from their childhood. Along with that are videos and photos that their parents took of the family's many journeys and life events. Apparently, those journeys were a catalyst for Brad's own travels as an adult.

The film follows Brad from his departure in New York to the highways of Panama to a hotel that he stayed at during his original trip there. Then there are boat travels on the river and villages to explore. All the while Brad is searching for the village and villagers that embraced him on his earlier trip.

And when Brad does find his villagers there is a reunion that rekindles the friendships he made on his first trip and new ones that he cultivates.

The film features some extraordinary landscapes. The ariel photography is terrific, as is the footage of the forest and of the people that Brad interacts with.

Brad wrote the dialog sequences for the film. He also directed it. The director of photography was Erwin Georgi, whose boutique production company, Majick Creations, is based in Miami. The film was edited by Georgia Wyss, whose previous work includes a Disney documentary and a Diane Sawyer expose along with producing films for her own company, TengoTwo.

Bancoco is a great documentary. It shows a unique journey that one man takes to re-connect with a group of people and a land that he became enamored with.

As of this writing, Bancoco is available for streaming at Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube and Tubi.

The film has an official website where you can view a gallery of photos from the film and information about Brad and other elements related to the film. The website is https://www.bancocofilm.com/

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© 2023 Bruce E Von Stiers