ExpatWomen:Congratulations Angelina, I road-tested your three DVDs (Japan, Bali and The British Isles) on my two young children and they loved them. Actually, so do their teachers, who after showing them to their classes, want to order some for the school! Please share with our audience what The Little Travelers DVDs are about and some more information about The Little Travelers Production company.
Angelina: Thanks for the kind words, Andrea. The Little Travelers is a travel series for the whole family. It explores foreign cultures through the eyes of children, yet I've had teenage boys and Dads as into the series as 3 year old girls. One mom I spoke to said she found her husband re-watching the Japan DVD alone after his kids were asleep. Many parents have told me that they had no interest in traveling to a certain country until they saw the DVD on that particular country. I've also had quite a few business men who'd been to Japan many times for business and never considered taking their children because they were convinced there was 'nothing there for kids' feel sorry after watching the DVD that they didn't take their kids and explore Japan's other side.
The DVDs are observational in nature and are driven by the interests of the girls, Chantelle and Nakia. They are not scripted ahead of time and we aren't trying to make a certain point about a certain country. In Japan we met neighbors and made friends with children around us and the girls played with them nearly everyday even though they did not speak the same language. Bali is a very open culture and it's very easy to meet locals and be invited into their homes - again, though there was a clear lack of common spoken language. In the Ireland and England the local kids had just gone back to school and were fully immersed in the busyness that western culture brings with it. It was very difficult for us to meet anyone even though there was no language barrier. Modern life was the barrier, which was far more difficult to penetrate than a language barrier. Kids go to school, activities after school, do homework, watch TV and go to bed. There is no room to meet new people, hang out and talk.
Where at first I felt a little saddened by this, once I related it back to my own life and thought about when I'm at home and have so much to do each day. If I met an Irish family in the supermarket on vacation I would likely wish them a great holiday. I probably wouldn't invite them to dinner, which you do often find in developing countries or Asian countries. I so often find that the less people have the more willing they are to share it. It really says a lot about western culture.
My goal in the series is to just explore other countries through the eyes of children. The girls never really noticed that we didn't meet other children in the British Isles because they were so enamored with the countryside. There were blackberries growing everywhere, we went on a horse caravan, they were able to drink water straight from streams in some places and it was just so beautifully green. The great thing about children is they see what is in front of them and not what's missing, as we adults often do.
ExpatWomen:What gave you the idea for The Little Travelers?
Angelina: We were heading off to Japan for three months when the girls were 3 and 5 and just the week before we left I had the idea to record the experience for other children. I was always intensely interested in other countries and cultures when I was young but found most information on them quite boring. They were often school materials that lacked any sort of human connection to the country. They weren't about things that I was interested in like kitchens, bathrooms, sleeping arrangements and daily life. I wanted to create the product I wished I had as a child and the products I wished I could purchase for my children now.
ExpatWomen:Do you have a background in film production, photography or storytelling?
Angelina: My background is in Child Development and Psychology, not film. I think the strengths of the DVDs lie not in production, but in the ability to focus on what makes us human. I just film what's happening and the Psychologist in me wants to just see what unfolds. I think if I had a film background I'd be more focused on lighting, setting and making shots happen. But my focus is on the people in the shot and what they're thinking or feeling - that's what I'm after. Photography has been a hobby of mine for a long time and the film part I really had to study in a hurry before beginning. I tool classes and read books like mad.
ExpatWomen:Your beautiful daughters seem so curious and natural in front of the camera. How have you seen the girls develop during your travels, in terms of their curiosity, understanding of their surroundings and ease in front of the camera?
Angelina: Neither of the girls particularly like being filmed. Really they're just good at ignoring me. I knew I wanted to film in the same way that I parent, which is heavy on observation and light on direction. Often when I film the camera is on my lap so my face is still present. I watch the viewfinder from above rather than have the camera in front of my face. I really try to keep my distance as well and give them space. They're just doing what they do and I'm basically chasing them as inconspicuously as possible. Of course they know I'm there and filming but I'm not directing.
As they're getting older their style is changing a bit. The 7-year old daughter of a friend who is a film director said to my girls after watching the British Isles DVD, "I noticed there was a lot more direct address in this one than Bali and Japan." Both girls looked at me and said, "What's that?" She said, "You spoke to the camera more." And they both said, "We did?" So, they're not really that aware or conscious yet of what they do in front of the camera. Part of me gets a little bummed at that loss of innocence around that, but that can be said for all things that they are now becoming aware of. "Why doesn't everyone have food?" "Why are there wars?" These things just come with age.
When they were very young they didn't really notice the differences of each country. The whole world was still so new to them and many of their experiences were first time experiences - even at home. But now as they're getting older they have more of a grasp on what is different in a particular place. When we were in Ireland and all the blackberries on the side of the road were 'free' they were just thrilled. They thought that was the best thing ever - that you didn't have to pay for them before you ate them. If that would've happened when they were three years old it wouldn't have had the same significance since all of their food was always free because paying for food was still outside of their awareness.
ExpatWomen:From your experience, what tips can you share for parents looking to teach their children about other cultures?
Angelina: I highly recommend focusing on experience rather than information. There are lots of great ethnic neighborhoods in many cities around the world. Meet people, shop at ethnic grocers and ask the people shopping there what they eat. Food is a great way to introduce cultures. Go to the library and get some cookbooks and let your kids choose what to cook together. Follow that culture's manners as well. If it's Chinese, eat with chopsticks. Eat Indian with your right hand, while sitting on the floor to slurp those Japanese noodles. These are the things children love. It is also polite to burp at the table if the meal is good in some cultures. Find out the things that are appealing to kids and go with it. You can follow up the next week with a very formal English meal, pinkies in the air, lots of forks and knives, napkin on your lap. Keep it balanced and they won't turn into bohemians. And remember it is not polite to slurp spaghetti. Italians eat with a fork and spoon.
ExpatWomen:Which city / country are you guys visiting next and why?
Angelina: We are in the final stages of trying to get our visas to the next country we'd like to visit. It is a country that I've had interest in for many years. It will be announced on our blog in the form of a trivia contest in October. The country will be revealed through photos once we arrive. We will be in the snow and in the desert and do many things that we've never done before. That's all I'll say for now, so stay tuned...
ExpatWomen:Thank you very much Angelina. We wish you, Chantelle and Nakia safe travels and many more days full of adventure.
