Notes on the economic situation in Berlin (leaving Spain for later)

Ok, we've  talked about the economic crisis in Spain (and will talk about it more at another time).  We've talked about Occupy Wall Street, the Movimiento 15-M (los Indignados), and housing foreclosures in the U.S..  We´ll talk about all these again, but now:

I recently had the opportunity to go to Berlin, where another one of my productions (A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz) was screening in a festival.

So what about the economy in Germany, or at least, in Berlin?  Germany has the reputation of being in rather good shape, right?  It's supposedly one of the economically most stable countries in Europe, right?

Graffiti is alive and well in Berlin.

I'm sure all that is true.  Berlin, however, is not in quite such good shape.

I have this information simply from talking to a few people in Berlin during my brief, one-week stay there.  This is NOT a carefully researched analysis of current affairs.  Please take it with a grain of salt.

I was, however, very surprised to hear that Berlin has been having economic problems for the past few years.  I was told that salaries have remained stable, but that prices are increasing (meaning, obviously, less purchasing power).  I was told that "workers" (which I believe indicates government employees, but it wasn't completely clear) have lost some very important benefits in the past few years, chief of which is the one-month paid vacation and the automatic Christmas bonus.

Mixed in with very modern business towers, and handsome historic monuments, are huge, drab apartment houses.

The one month's vacation is still there, but it's no longer a paid vacation.  The Christmas bonus, which used to equal one month/s pay, is now gone.

When workers complained and threatened to strike, they were told that either they would have to accept these cuts, or there would be major cutbacks in staff.  Not wanting to lose their jobs, they then accepted the cuts.

A beauty spot with 18th century buildings.

 This was all very surprising to me.  It indicates a really significant change in the economic situation of a large part of the work force.  I do not, however, know if this is limited to Berlin, or to Berlin plus what used to be East Germany, or what.

SO....

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about finishing the editing of the LONG, for television, version of Domino.

Filming in el Puerto-our two young lovers

Last Friday, we filmed a scene in el Puerto with our two young lovers, namely, Luis's son and the son's finacee.

And just so you'll know where all this is located:  El Puerto is what people in this area call the small city of Puerto de Santa Maria.  It's located a little north of Cadiz, and Cadiz is a port city in the south of Spain on the Atlantic Ocean.

Our two actors (Rosario Heredia & José Castro) with part of the crew.

El Puerto is also a port, mostly for small fishing craft and some pleasure boats.  It's located at the mouth of a river that empties into the Bay of Cadiz--a big, big bay like the San Francisco Bay.

Our young lovers mostly talk about the upcoming wedding.  The fiancee, Ana, has stars in her eyes.  She is imagining a gigantic wedding in a church filled with flowers, a huge wedding cake, a slick band, lots of great food, the works.

We're working hard.  The actors are the ones sitting down.

Luis' son Juan, however, knows that his family can't afford anything of the kind.  The two families will share the cost of the wedding, but since Luis, Juan's dad, has been out of work for many months, there is not much money lying around.  Each time Ana comes up with a new fancy thing she thinks they'll have, Juan brings here back to reality...for example, the wedding cake will be made by his aunt (who works in a bakery but hasn't yet learned how to do anything really fancy).

Then, the kicker:  it seems that Ana's father views the ability of Juan's family to pay their share as a test of how well his daughter can expect to be supported.  Poor Luis,  How is he going to be able to afford all this?

Our star of the day, Rosario, playing the finacee and yours truly with an aching back.

The scene, by the way, took five hours to shoot.  At the end, we had a good meal, and then went and shot another scene (this one, in Jerez).

OUR NEXT POST will be more about the economic situation in Spain.  I might not get to it until after Berlin (meaning expect it around May 9 or 10).  I´ll also talk a bit about the economic situation in Berlin.