Investigations and Research

The research is going swimmingly. As I have mentioned before, we have probably met 8000 of the 10,000 people living in the historic zone of Toledo, Spain. That means lots of investigating. Jacob and I thought we knew a great deal about this city before we arrived here, however, everyday we are learning knew things about this 2000 year-old city.

For instance, just the other day a very kind man named Joaquin gave us the second of two tours around the city. He took us to the ruins of the Roman Circus. This 2000 year circus is not the type of circus you would imagine today, with clowns and elephants. The circus for the Romans was a stadium that housed the popular entertainment of the day; mainly being chariot races and gladiator fights. What is now left of the circus is crumbling and quite humble. However, the arches that supported the outside wall of the circus still remain.

Walking around this sight I imagined the hoards of ordinary laborers that tended to the everyday running of the circus. This place must have been quite a center of employment. It most likely was the work place of maintenance workers, horse tenders, ticket vendors, refreshment vendors, and so on.

The circus is located just a few hundred feet from the Puerta de Bisagra which is the main entrance to the historic city. And just a few hundred feet from the city that was home to the people of three empires and countless other ethnic groups. Apparently, Toledo has been home to, at one time or another, the Celts, Romans, the Visigoths, the Sefardic Jews, the Moors (Arabs), and the current Spanish Catholics of today. For that, when you wander around the city of Toledo you encounter buildings that have architectural influences of two sometimes three different eras. Well, more on this later.

Jacob and I will be interviewing artists on camera for the remaining three weeks of our stay here. We will keep you updated on our further happenings.

Joel

Two Toledos Update Letter emailed on January 28, 2005

Dear Friends of Two Toledos,

From sword blades to glass, El Greco to Art Tatum, Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain have made significant contributions to the world of art and creativity. In honoring these traditions of two great cities we will create a documentary that will highlight and tell the stories of contemporary artists in both countries. This film is the first documentary to offer an in-depth look at what these two cities have to offer each other in the realms of arts and culture.

The overriding goal of this documentary is to create a stronger cultural bridge that will bring the people of both cities closer together and to foster future artist exchanges.

We, Joel Washing and Jacob David, are living in Toledo, Spain for the next month. During this stay we are conducting research for the film. In the short time that we have been here we have met many artists that are living and working in this historical city. We have also met many dignitaries of Toledo. They have all greeted us warmly and expressed great interest in our film concept.

As you may already know the 75th anniversary of the inception of our sister cities relationship is only a year away. The people of Toledo, Spain are very excited and are preparing for the celebration.

You may be interested to know that a choir and string quartet from Toledo, Ohio will be visiting Toledo, Spain in June this year. They will be continuing a long tradition of cultural exchange between out two cities. We hope to see many more exchanges in the near future.

We would like to take an opportunity to thank you for your continuing interest in our film. We would also like to keep you updated on the progression of this exciting and ambitious project.

Sincerely,

Joel Washing, Producer
Jacob David, Producer

www.twotoledos.com
movie@twotoledos.com