Mar, Sol, Vent
Mar, Sol, Vent is a documentary that follows the rehabilitation of the Salinas de la Concepción in Fornells, Menorca, which began in mid-2022. A multidisciplinary team, made up of engineers, architects, ecologists and salt workers, is dedicated to redesigning and rebuilding these 19th-century salt flats using artisanal techniques and local materials such as clay and marès stone.
Throughout the film, the protagonists explain the project and underline the importance of respect for artisanal tradition and design to ensure that Mediterranean waters flow, by gravity, through the channels and ponds that form the backbone of these salt flats to form salt. The traditional crafts of Menorca and the island's rich salt-making history are also explored. In addition, the actions carried out to promote biodiversity and respect for the ecosystem are highlighted.
Finally, it is revealed how the sea, the sun and the wind are fundamental to the artisanal production of salt, culminating in the harvesting of the first crop in the summer of 2023.
Country of Origin: Spain
XACOBO SANMARTIN, Director
Throughout the film, the protagonists explain the project and underline the importance of respect for artisanal tradition and design to ensure that Mediterranean waters flow, by gravity, through the channels and ponds that form the backbone of these salt flats to form salt. The traditional crafts of Menorca and the island's rich salt-making history are also explored. In addition, the actions carried out to promote biodiversity and respect for the ecosystem are highlighted.
Finally, it is revealed how the sea, the sun and the wind are fundamental to the artisanal production of salt, culminating in the harvesting of the first crop in the summer of 2023.
Country of Origin: Spain
XACOBO SANMARTIN, Director
Xacobo Sanmartín, Vigo (España), 1978
With a degree in Audiovisual Communication and a Master’s degree in Art and New Technologies, Xacobo Sanmartín has spent the last 20 years creating and developing film projects, collaborating with numerous national media outlets. His career as a documentary filmmaker began with the short film I love Teis (2005), 5 minutes long, which was selected for the Play-Doc International Documentary Festival and allowed him to obtain the “Avid-Xpressate” grant.
Between 2009 and 2013, he was part of the team of filmmakers for the “Retrato filmado” project, directed by Marta Andreu, where he contributed to the production of a choral film for the same festival. His first feature film as a director, “Un mar de Pedra”, explores the creative process of the sculptor Manolo Paz and was selected for the Official Play-Doc Competition (2010), as well as at the Ourense International Film Festival and Cineuropa.
As a producer, he highlights Aquel sol do verán, a documentary that pays tribute to the writer Carlos Casares. This project was subsidized by AGADIC, co-produced by the Galician Radio and Television Company and also selected for the Ourense International Film Festival.
In 2019, he began the development of the non-fiction feature film El tiempo del fuego, with the support of AGADIC (Axencia Galega das Industrias Culturais). This work investigates the links between the assault on the Spanish embassy in Guatemala in 1980 and the current migration crisis in Central American countries.
In 2022 he begins as director and producer of “Mar, Sol, Vent”, a documentary film about the Salinas de la Concepción in Menorca, where tradition, design and sustainability come together in the rehabilitation of a 19th century salt legacy, celebrating biodiversity and the art of artisanal salt production.
Director's Statement:
Mar, Sol, Vent is a film that not only documents the rehabilitation of the Salinas de la Concepción in Menorca (founded in the mid-19th century), but also explores how architectural space can tell stories and connect people with their environment. Through artisanal techniques and a multidisciplinary approach, a tradition that evokes memories and protects biodiversity is revived. As in cinema, space and time merge, inviting viewers to reflect on their relationship with the Mediterranean landscape and its history, creating emotional memories that transcend the visual.
With a degree in Audiovisual Communication and a Master’s degree in Art and New Technologies, Xacobo Sanmartín has spent the last 20 years creating and developing film projects, collaborating with numerous national media outlets. His career as a documentary filmmaker began with the short film I love Teis (2005), 5 minutes long, which was selected for the Play-Doc International Documentary Festival and allowed him to obtain the “Avid-Xpressate” grant.
Between 2009 and 2013, he was part of the team of filmmakers for the “Retrato filmado” project, directed by Marta Andreu, where he contributed to the production of a choral film for the same festival. His first feature film as a director, “Un mar de Pedra”, explores the creative process of the sculptor Manolo Paz and was selected for the Official Play-Doc Competition (2010), as well as at the Ourense International Film Festival and Cineuropa.
As a producer, he highlights Aquel sol do verán, a documentary that pays tribute to the writer Carlos Casares. This project was subsidized by AGADIC, co-produced by the Galician Radio and Television Company and also selected for the Ourense International Film Festival.
In 2019, he began the development of the non-fiction feature film El tiempo del fuego, with the support of AGADIC (Axencia Galega das Industrias Culturais). This work investigates the links between the assault on the Spanish embassy in Guatemala in 1980 and the current migration crisis in Central American countries.
In 2022 he begins as director and producer of “Mar, Sol, Vent”, a documentary film about the Salinas de la Concepción in Menorca, where tradition, design and sustainability come together in the rehabilitation of a 19th century salt legacy, celebrating biodiversity and the art of artisanal salt production.
Director's Statement:
Mar, Sol, Vent is a film that not only documents the rehabilitation of the Salinas de la Concepción in Menorca (founded in the mid-19th century), but also explores how architectural space can tell stories and connect people with their environment. Through artisanal techniques and a multidisciplinary approach, a tradition that evokes memories and protects biodiversity is revived. As in cinema, space and time merge, inviting viewers to reflect on their relationship with the Mediterranean landscape and its history, creating emotional memories that transcend the visual.