''Gringo Trails'' is a 2013 feature-length documentary film directed by anthropologist Pegi Vail of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. The film follows the positive and negative impacts of travel and tourism on numerous communities across the globe, including Thailand, Bolivia, Mali (Timbuktu) and Bhutan, documenting how communities thrive, adapt, or deteriorate in the face of mass tourism, "one of the most powerful globalizing forces of our time."

Yossi Ghinsberg

The film features Israeli adventurer and author,

Yossi Ghinsberg Yosseph "Yossi" Ghinsberg (; born 5 April 1959) is an Israeli adventurer, author, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and motivational speaker, now based in Byron Bay, Australia. Ghinsberg is most known for his survival story in an uncharted part of th ...

, who, in 1981, survived for three weeks after being stranded in the Bolivian jungle. In Gringo Trails, Ghinsberg returns to the jungle and the community who assisted in his rescue, and discusses how they have adapted to the influx of tourism in the wake of his own survival story, and assists them in the development of their own ecolodge, Chalalan. Ghinsberg's story is the subject of ''

Jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

'', a survival thriller film directed by Greg McLean and starring

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...

in the role of Ghinsberg.

Costas Christ

The film also features Costas Christ, editor-at-large and award-winning travel writer for

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. In the film, Christ, a proponent of

sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for Impacts of tourism, economic, social, and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs o ...

, discusses his relationship with the island community of

Ko Pha Ngan Ko Pha-ngan (, , ) is an island in the Gulf of Thailand in Surat Thani Province of southern Thailand. Ko Pha-ngan has two sister islands: the larger Ko Samui to the south and the smaller Ko Tao to the north. * Estimated perimeter: (estimated 10 ...

in southern Thailand, which he inadvertently popularised as a tourist destination after discovering its relatively untouched beauty in the late 1970s. Christ cites the mass ecological damage which has befallen the island since the 1980s in the wake of the escalating popularity of the island's now notorious

Full Moon Party The Full Moon Party (Thai: ฟูลมูนปาร์ตี้) is an all-night beach party that originated in Haad Rin on the island of Ko Pha-ngan, Thailand in 1985. The party takes place on the night of, before, or after every full mo ...

with international tourists and backpackers, held monthly on the island's

Haad Rin Haad Rin (, ) is a peninsular beach area and town on the southern tip of Ko Pha-ngan, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Its two main beaches are Sunset Beach (Haad Rin Nai) to the south and the larger Sunrise Beach (Haad Rin Nok) to the north. ...

beach.

Reviews

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Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on seven reviews, with an average rating of 7.42/10. Film publications such as

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

, and

Film Journal International ''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of '' Adweek'', '' Billboard'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodical ...

were amongst those to praise both the quality of the film and its central thesis. The film also generated a lot of positive press among numerous international travel publications, such as Travel Weekly,

National Geographic Traveler ''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by National Geographic Partners, NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slov ...

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club me ...

, and

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is a magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of the ''Outside'' magazine was published in September 1977. It is published by Outside Inc., a company that also owns various other ventures. History ''Outside'' founders were J ...

, the latter of which described the documentary as "an important and moving film."

References

External links

*
Full list of press releases for the film
* * {{rotten-tomatoes, gringo_trails, Gringo Trails
Official website of director
Pegi Vail 2013 films American documentary films 2013 documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language documentary films

Yossi Ghinsberg

Costas Christ

Reviews

References

Further reading

External links