Unai Canela: "When you've been alone on the mountain for a week, your main concern is having enough food and water."

BarcelonaWe know Unai Canela thanks, above all, to Unai's journey, one of the most successful documentaries of Non-fiction, which was directed by his father, the prestigious photographer of National Geographic Andoni Canela. It's a film that has become a generational touchstone, narrated by Unai when he was nine years old, and which he, along with his parents and sister, traveled around the world following Andoni's work. Unai has grown up, and we've watched him grow up through cinema, as the protagonist of this celebrated film. Boyhood, by Richard Linklater. He has become a film and documentary director. He made a documentary during the pandemic –Between mountains– a feline of the world also with his father and has recently presented his own film, Sun in GreenlandBefore summer, he was in the Amazon working as a cameraman for a documentary about birds. At twenty, he has become a promising audiovisual professional. A young prodigy. It seems both distant and yet close. Unai's journey.

It's strange to see you in the middle of the big city.

— That's what I have to do now! Together with my father, I have my own production company, and unfortunately, it can't all be about filming in the middle of nature. We also have to find ways to make it happen.

Two everyday situations?

— Definitely. My favorite is the one in the middle of the forest. It's the everyday life of the city that feels most exotic. I go to Berlin a lot now, but after almost two years living in Hamburg, I was afraid to go.

In Catalonia, where do you hang out?

— I grew up in Castellar de n'Hug. Then we moved to Banyoles, where I lived for several years. But now I'm a bit of a wanderer. A bit homeless.

How do you handle this?

— It's not ideal, certainly. It would be nice to have a permanent location. But I suppose it's related to the creative aspect of what I do. Ideas, projects, come with changes, new developments, movement, and a lack of routine. Going from one place to another, from one project to another, is a lot of fun. There's no point in complaining.

At first from Unai's Journey You're given a camera. Is this a moment that reveals your destiny?

— Cameras have always been there. I used to take pictures of my father and try to learn how to use them. But it's true that the moment you mention is the first time I had total creative freedom. A tool to do whatever I wanted, to experiment, and to enjoy responsibility and power.

And with the family, all around the world and alongside your father while he worked.

— Yes, I already knew he was one of the best in the world at his job, but sharing these unique moments of contact with nature, searching for animals, and his passion for his work with him was a fabulous experience.

Do you perceive it as a kind of inevitable, natural continuation between him and you?

— It happened naturally, of course. Never forced or premeditated. It was interesting, and the course of events led to it being filmed. That's why the round-the-world trip ofUnai's Journey It was so important. I was nine years old and all I wanted was to have fun, which was what I was supposed to do. A little later, at fifteen and sixteen, I already had a pretty well-formed idea of myself.

It's been twelve years since that trip. How would you describe it with today's perspective?

— The most important thing that has happened to me is being able to understand, put into practice, and live it. in situ the values that had been instilled in me since I was born.

Nature as a total value in itself?

— Yes, essentially, yes.

Did it also allow you to develop audiovisual and cinematic awareness?

— Yes, that too. I remember that on that trip to the iPad I had downloaded three or four movies and I kept watching them and thinking about how they should be made.

Do you remember which ones?

— I remember above all Back to the Future, which will be the movie I've seen the most times in my life. And the third part, the western...with that spectacular ending. And I thought, "How is this done?" At ten years old, traveling the world, understanding some very valuable keys was a revelation.

More revelations?

— At a time when you're forming your identity, learning about the cultures of the world is a huge revelation. The terrible inequalities in African countries, for example. As a child, confronting the idea of how wealth is distributed leads you to ask very important questions.

"An incredible gift," is how you describe it. Unai's Journey to have been able to know and experience nature.

— There are two ways to learn some things: rely on someone else to tell you about them, or experience them firsthand. And there's nothing like the latter. Living through a cyclone, living near wolves and polar ice caps, experiencing extreme cold, living deep in the jungle and high in the mountains... Experiencing so many privileged situations makes you feel just that: privileged.

How do you value the legacy you have absorbed from your father?

— We've always had a strong sense of camaraderie, of shared discoveries, even though he, for obvious reasons, possessed the knowledge and I had to absorb it. We've complemented each other and shared knowledge and learning. We've learned from one another. Especially me from him, of course. And that's why the legacy you mention has never been a burden, an obligation. Again, it's all been natural.

Of all the values of Sun in Greenland The most beautiful and revealing thing is your father's visit.

— He was the one who introduced me to Greenland; he was my connection to the country. I went back five times, and we explained many things to each other, but his presence during filming wasn't planned. In the end, it became unavoidable, a way of completing a cycle of learning about the place.

The film reveals a central idea: loneliness. A problematic idea in today's world. Are you looking for it?

— Being alone can teach you many interesting and valuable things, but it's also true that solitude is often romanticized. One of the movies from my childhood was Into the wild. And in the end you tell yourself, "Don't seek solitude so much, we are all human and we need each other."

What does solitude give you?

— I'm not happy or worried about anything. When you've been alone on the mountain for a week, your only concerns are having enough food and water.

And to cross the mountain opposite and know how to find your way...

— Yes, but those worries are real luxuries compared to other worries in your life. "I have to go to a pond to get water," "I have to know where to pitch the tent so it's not in the wind and I don't get cold"—what a luxury!

And fear?

— When you're alone for many days, all emotions are amplified a thousandfold. It's the time to experience them one by one, and truly. Fear? Yes, that too.

"After weeks of not seeing anyone, I think I'm going a little crazy," you say to Only in Greenland.

— [Laughs] I remember this moment well. I say it laughing. I'm going crazy, but it's cool. For me, all of this is a privilege. A luxury to be able to feel free, to let my mind wander wherever it wants. To think that when I reach the next valley, maybe I'll find a suitcase full of delicious food. There's nothing nearby that could be a negative distraction, nothing to stress me out or make me angry.

You said the word privilege. So you feel privileged?

— Yes, of course. Experiencing nature, connecting with other realities and cultures, the joy of feeling a little ignorant, "I only know that I know nothing"... everything is new and you learn from everything. I can only feel grateful and privileged. Both from my childhood years and now, even though it's been my job for quite some time.

We've seen you in Unai's Journey at nine years old and now in Sun in Greenland, that you're 20. I can't help but think about Boyhood [Richard Linklater's film, shot over twelve years, shows how Unai, the lead actor, really grows up from age six to eighteen].

— Yes, I've thought about that too, and people have told me so!

I'm not original, that's for sure...

— [We laugh] I don't watch my films often, but it's nice to be able to remember what I was like a few years ago, what I've gained and what I've left behind. The childlike perspective and innocence are great reminders for me.

For you above all, but also for the viewer. To see a nine-year-old boy and how he has grown to be 20, how his thinking has evolved, his way of being in the world, even how his beard has grown!

— It's very useful to me in a very specific, particular, and personal way, linked to different stages of my life. I understand that these are values that the audience might also find interesting in other ways, of course.

You're studying anthropology online. Has so much contact with nature and animals made you more interested in what human beings are like?

— To understand nature, we must understand ourselves. They are two sides of the same coin. One option is to see ourselves as just another animal, and the other is to have an anthropocentric view of the world. I believe we must find a middle ground. We are just another species, but we have a much greater responsibility than others. Returning to Unai's journey, Nature didn't fail to fascinate me, but perhaps it surprised me less than certain discoveries about humans.

Are animals more predictable?

— Yes. Humans, on the other hand, never cease to amaze. Too often, for the worse. Look at the issue of climate change denial, for example.

Do you consider yourself self-taught?

— In some ways, yes, but not entirely. Cinematically, I've learned from the people around me. I've learned from my role models, from having them close by. From what I've read and from the people I work with. Practice and experience have been a very significant part of my learning.

And the music?

— More than self-taught, I'm curious about music. I have influences and friends who have shaped me in many ways. But I'm still just one person. hobby What else?

Do you have any film buff influences you'd like to mention?

— Werner Herzog! One of the first documentaries I ever saw was Grizzly Man, And it remains the best documentary I've ever seen. It's a topHe's a true master. He has a way of finding and telling stories that fascinates me.

Before summer, you went to the Amazon as a cameraman for a documentary about birds. What are you working on now?

— In several projects where I work as a cameraman documenting animal behavior, like the Amazonian birds we filmed before summer, I try to have my own project that lasts several years and combine it with participating in other projects.

Your own project now?

— One is about the conservation of species in the Iberian Peninsula, which is the region in Europe with the greatest biodiversity. And it's a little-known fact.

What would you like to say in closing?

— We try to enjoy nature. Sometimes friends come to the Pyrenees and are amazed simply by gazing at a starry night. Or by seeing a chamois in the middle of the forest. And they don't look at their phones once. Very simple moments, but ones we tend to overlook. You don't have to go all the way to Greenland!