V/O: Black stallions, beefy thighs and a legion of Roman soldiers … it must be Good Friday in Antigua in Central America.
V/O: The old city wakes at 2 to hear the words of Pontius Pilate. Death to Christ. A modest start to a truly massive production.
V/O: Good Friday is the holiest day in Guatemala’s calendar. And Antigua celebrates it like nowhere else.Some 50,000 penitents take turns to haul gigantic floats, walking with Christ as they re-enact his final hours. It is an old and profound act of faith, an intermingling of Spanish and local Mayan traditions.
Richard: “Right now we’re talking about an event that has more than 500 years of fusion between different cultures, between two realities and two different concepts of faith”
V/O: Father Richard Godoy is head priest at the Merced Church, from which Christ’s statue emerged at dawn. He will be carried – he in turn bearing his Cross - until mid-afternoon.
Richard: Ordinary people could neither read nor write, so the procession became a vehicle for teaching the faith to the most humble and it is they who have maintained this trtadition which defines their own faith.
Q: Of course thousands take part – but also masses of tourists with cameras. Does that worry you?
No, welcome to Guatemala City! To Antigua City!
V/O: Like the ceremonies, the statues are many centuries old. The 80 penitents carry the float for just one block, to share the weight, and the honour.
IN: Easter in Antigua is primarily an expression of intense and sorrowing faith
OUT: to celebrate what unites them
Garth: I reckon add a few ground-level shots of the city to show colours, doorways etc)
V/O: Antigua is a golden city – Guatemala’s capital until the late 1770s , when it was struck by earthquake. It’s now a maze of rainbow houses and cobbled streets, and in each doorway, locals and visitors gather for the ancient Easter spectacle. The most somber moment comes outside the main Cathedral, when Christ is raised on the cross.
Crucifixion ceremony, sound of funeral march.
Richard: Good Friday is generally identified in Latin America as the Friday of pain and of suffering, because the people themselves are living in experience of pain in their own lives. So for that reason there’s a lot of identification or identity with the Christ that suffers as they suffer today.
Shots of people making carpet
V/O: But there is great beauty too … the gorgeous carpets may look real, but they are the most fragile constructions, of pine needles, flowers and dyed sawdust. These traditional tapestries take months to plan, hours to assemble, and just minutes to be trampled underfoot. The point? Only heaven is eternal.
Richard taking mass in church.
Richard reading in church.
V/O: Fifteen hours after Christ was sentenced, Good Friday ends where it began – at the Merced Church. Everyone is exhausted. Except Father Richard Godoy… still spreading the message of sacrifice and love.
Richard: It’s a happy thing, you’re important, your opinion is valued, your work is important, you are supported and loved. It’s not so much about yourself, but about God inviting you to do something wonderful.
Reporter: Jennifer Byrne
Camera: Geoffrey Lye
Sound: Kate Graham
Editor: Garth Thomas
Producer: Vivien Altman
V/O: The old city wakes at 2 to hear the words of Pontius Pilate. Death to Christ. A modest start to a truly massive production.
V/O: Good Friday is the holiest day in Guatemala’s calendar. And Antigua celebrates it like nowhere else.Some 50,000 penitents take turns to haul gigantic floats, walking with Christ as they re-enact his final hours. It is an old and profound act of faith, an intermingling of Spanish and local Mayan traditions.
Richard: “Right now we’re talking about an event that has more than 500 years of fusion between different cultures, between two realities and two different concepts of faith”
V/O: Father Richard Godoy is head priest at the Merced Church, from which Christ’s statue emerged at dawn. He will be carried – he in turn bearing his Cross - until mid-afternoon.
Richard: Ordinary people could neither read nor write, so the procession became a vehicle for teaching the faith to the most humble and it is they who have maintained this trtadition which defines their own faith.
Q: Of course thousands take part – but also masses of tourists with cameras. Does that worry you?
No, welcome to Guatemala City! To Antigua City!
V/O: Like the ceremonies, the statues are many centuries old. The 80 penitents carry the float for just one block, to share the weight, and the honour.
IN: Easter in Antigua is primarily an expression of intense and sorrowing faith
OUT: to celebrate what unites them
Garth: I reckon add a few ground-level shots of the city to show colours, doorways etc)
V/O: Antigua is a golden city – Guatemala’s capital until the late 1770s , when it was struck by earthquake. It’s now a maze of rainbow houses and cobbled streets, and in each doorway, locals and visitors gather for the ancient Easter spectacle. The most somber moment comes outside the main Cathedral, when Christ is raised on the cross.
Crucifixion ceremony, sound of funeral march.
Richard: Good Friday is generally identified in Latin America as the Friday of pain and of suffering, because the people themselves are living in experience of pain in their own lives. So for that reason there’s a lot of identification or identity with the Christ that suffers as they suffer today.
Shots of people making carpet
V/O: But there is great beauty too … the gorgeous carpets may look real, but they are the most fragile constructions, of pine needles, flowers and dyed sawdust. These traditional tapestries take months to plan, hours to assemble, and just minutes to be trampled underfoot. The point? Only heaven is eternal.
Richard taking mass in church.
Richard reading in church.
V/O: Fifteen hours after Christ was sentenced, Good Friday ends where it began – at the Merced Church. Everyone is exhausted. Except Father Richard Godoy… still spreading the message of sacrifice and love.
Richard: It’s a happy thing, you’re important, your opinion is valued, your work is important, you are supported and loved. It’s not so much about yourself, but about God inviting you to do something wonderful.
Reporter: Jennifer Byrne
Camera: Geoffrey Lye
Sound: Kate Graham
Editor: Garth Thomas
Producer: Vivien Altman