Great idea, less than ideal execution.
Not sure if it's because there were too many cooks in the kitchen (ie 2 directors + the 2 hosts who obviously had a saying) but the whole thing is missing a solid common thread, the starting point of "let's see how resilient local communities are after the 2008 recession"... doesn't really work the way it's been presented here.
I understand that during preproduction is way easier to book someone who is part of an association or the local government, and that during filming these people will be at ease and not make silly mistakes while speaking and that during editing the process will be faster... but: it all seems a glorified scripted commercial. Now, I value the impact these people had in their communities and yes the world is a better place thanks to them. It's that for a documentary... it doesnt work.
Too fragmented, too fast, not enough time to absorb the situation, the challenges and the emotions involved in all these stories.
Having title cards to indicate the different locations would have helped.
Less drone shots (with an oversaturated color palette) would have helped. Again, it gave me the impression to be a commercial. A generic travel commercial put together with a bunch of stock footage.
They could learn a thing or 2 from Peter Santanello on youtube, whose videos are small gems of getting close to the locals and making them comfortable enough to open up ant talk about their problems.
Maybe it's that the 2 hosts are trying too hard to be relatable to the situations and the personal stories they have on screen. Personally, they fail: they should have interacted more with the locals. They should have avoided flying around with their private plane... the vibe it gives me is: here we come from above... we are not like you peasants.... we can fly...
Maybe it works on paper (the documentary comes after a book they wrote) but it doesnt on screen. There is just too much talking and not enough emotional showing.
Not recommended.
