The Journey to the Interior takes to the road on the Porto Canal to tell Portugal | television
A Journey to the Interior conducted at various times: that of villages and based territories, and their people; that of the unhurried journalist who wants to rediscover, see and hear, feel; that of books, which João Ferreira Oliveira took to offer and read wherever he went. The odyssey was lived in spring, reported in Fugas in weekly reports, and is now shown on Porto Canal in a documentary in three episodes.
It took 20 days and four destinations in a project that evoked even the memories of the Gulbenkian’s longing itinerant libraries. The normalist journalist travels through the interior of the country to tell stories to children (and beyond), get to know and learn. An even more unique trip in exceptional times: those of the pandemic, which, among many difficulties and dramas, also brought an added isolation to many people.
“From the interior you can see Portugal”, headlines Ferreira Oliveira in an article published in Fugas about the last kilometers and a summary as factual as emotional of this trip, which also had its adventures and tribulations.
“The objective of this Trip to the Interior was never to reach or go anywhere, because going anywhere was manifestly impossible in less than a month. Twenty days in which almost four thousand kilometers were covered, around 500 books were offered and dozens of stories were read. For the story, there is also a small (large) dent, already on the last day, 2,000 hours away from returning the van to the Citroën’s rightful owner”, wrote the traveller.
The Schist Villages were the starting point, followed by the Terra Fria Route (Trás-os-Montes), Alentejo Interior and Algarve Interior.
“If books (and the road) are the best way to get to know the world,” wrote João, people will always be the best way to get to know a country.”
On Porto Canal, the documentary episodes, performed by journalist and by Manuel Loureiro, edited by João Teotónio, premiered in November: on Saturday 6 (3:30 pm), with Aldeias do Xisto as a backdrop; Tuesday, the 9th (21:00), through the Terra Fria Route; Tuesday 16th (9pm), along the paths of Alentejo and Algarve. More information and repetition schedules at local channel.