In between Fridays

by Central Magazine

Originally from Frankfurt, Maximilian Geschke is the producer and director of the independent documentary In Between Fridays.

Article Cover Photo

In Between Fridays follows an International Community, Farm and Permaculture Project, who throw a weekly pizza party while working towards becoming self-sustainable.

“I was always interested in film, especially documentaries. I like how you’re telling real stories, about real life. I think it’s amazing that you can turn it into a picture, into words, into a story”, Maximilian told Central Magazine.

The German producer shared how his filmmaking journey began: “I officially got into the industry around four years ago, working at a production company in Berlin, which was also making documentaries. From then on, it just kept rolling, but I had always wanted to do a project of my own.”

 

Discovering Tojeiro

In 2017, at a hostel in Lagos, Maximilian met Aljoscha Habel, the creative producer of the documentary. “He told me about this place where hippies live in the mountains and throw a weekly pizza party. I wasn’t 100 percent sure of what to expect there, but when we arrived it was just a very special atmosphere”, he recalled.

Maximilian continued to visit the location over the years and got to know the founder of Tojeiro, Rudi. During the pandemic, Maximilian thought about the community and their lifestyle. “I rang up Rudi to see how he was, and he told me that Covid-19 had hit Portugal pretty hard. The community had to close everything down, so their source of income was gone. That was the moment I realised I had to go back to Tojeiro.”

 

Capturing the atmosphere

The documentary follows Rudi, his former partner Katrina, their son Francesco and his current partner Bea, who are responsible for The Fridayhappiness Associação, a community created by people, for people, located in the mountains of Monchique. “The family puts all their work and energy into this one party every week and I wanted to know what their lives were like apart from the parties”, Maximiliam explained.

Far from the big cities and surrounded by nature, this place offers an alternative way of life with permaculture gardens, farm animals, and sustainability projects, including art and culture workshops. Volunteers from all over the world help manage the gardens, animals and daily life throughout the year.


During the production of the documentary, the film crew stayed in Tojeiro for five weeks, where they were shooting almost the entire time. “There are many volunteers from different countries, getting to know them and living with them, was really amazing. And of course, filming with our protagonists was the highlight of the production because over time they opened up more and more, and we had incredible talks. Both in front, and off camera” he recounted.

With this documentary, Maximilian Geschke aimed to capture the atmosphere of Tojeiro. “Bringing it to life with all the creativity and weirdness it has to offer. I also wanted to focus on the delicate balance between living in a partially sustainable community, with fresh vegetables from the garden and so on, and what it’s like to live in a location that hosts visitors every Friday, polluting the environment and bringing an imbalance to everyday life.”

 

In Between Fridays is now available on the streaming platform:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/inbetweenfridays

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