Duna International Ltd, an Italian owned production company, recently visited several sites in The Bahamas to record aspects of Bahamian history, culture and architecture, for release later this year on DVD. The programme will be used to complement the advertising and marketing campaign mounted by the Ministry of Tourism.

The crew visited Bimini, Cat Island, Spanish Wells and Harbour Island, shooting extensive footage of subjects like Bimini's legendary boat builder Ansil Saunders and locations like the Andrew Deaveaux Mansion and Mount Alvernia on Cat Island.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism explained that the objective was to create a body of resource material that, along with existing footage of Junkanoo, will serve to project a broader and deeper image of The Bahamas and Bahamian culture than traditional tourism promotional material does.

The crew, which included Isabella Astengo and Lorendana deLama, received a lesson in boat building from boatbuilding icon Ansil Saunders, which included explanations on the types of wood used in various stages of building his world-renowned bone-fishing boats.

They were also regaled with his anecdotes of his experiences as a bone-fishing guide for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his two visits to the island of Bimini, where Dr. King came to write his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Sanique Culmer, the Ministry of Tourism executive who accompanied the crew, said "they were enthralled by Mr. Saunders."

"He's quite a story-teller and had a lot of interesting experiences to recount," Ms. Culmer said. "In fact, the crew seemed generally fascinated by the heritage and cultural side of Bahamian life."

At Arthur's Town, Cat Island, the crew visited the birthplace of the famous screen actor, Sidney Poitier. Against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset on the beach of Sammy T's Beach Resort, the crew also experienced and filmed the performances of traditional Rake 'n Scrape music and demonstrations of the Bahamian Quadrille and the Heel and Toe Polka dances, to name a few.

The Deveaux Mansion, a ruined plantation house, though overgrown by foliage, where British Loyalists came with slaves was among the other points of interest included in the shoot, as were panoramas shot from the 206 ft. elevation of Mount Alvernia. The Hermitage a small monastery with Stations of the Cross carved into the rock, constructed single-handedly by Jesuit priest, Father Jerome at the top of Mt. Alvernia received special attention.

The satellite cays of Eleuthera, St. Georges' Cay and Harbour Island were also visited; the former, better known by the name of its only town, Spanish Wells. Home to a traditional quilt-making industry and the most successful of Bahamian fishing enterprises, the island appealed to the visitors with its picturesque charm neat rows of brightly coloured, New England style houses.

Ms. Culmer explained that since Spanish Wells "is considered to be the fishing capital of The Bahamas, the crew was able to film its vibrant wealthy, fishing community and the boat yard."

"It was obvious that the people of Spanish Wells enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle, due to the healthy craw fishing periods," she said.

The final stop on the shooting expedition was Harbour Island, or "Briland" as local residents refer to it. Greeted by a welcome sign describing the island as "Home of the Friendly People," the island captivated the visitors, who were particularly awed by the three-mile pink sand beach on its eastern side and the picturesque pastel-coloured houses along the water's edge and throughout the island.

"Harbour Island is known for great fishing and the crew experienced first-hand the cleaning of freshly caught fish during their deep sea fishing trip," said Ms. Culmer. "There is no doubt that the combination of the beautiful beach, traditional towns, historical architecture, fishing communities and the friendly people in Harbour Island made the filming expedition productive," she said.

BAHAMIAN HERITAGE AND CULTURE — Quilt making is one of the outstanding traditional crafts of The Bahamas. Apart from its fame as the "fishing capital of The Bahamas," Spanish Wells on St. George's Cay off Eleuthera is best known for the skill of its ladies at quilt making. This and other aspects of Bahamian heritage and culture were the focus of an Italian documentary team that visited The Bahamas recently.