These Death-Defying Human Towers Build on Catalan Tradition | Short Film Showcase
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- Catalonia is ruled by the Spanish government, but its people have been constructing independent kingdoms for centuries. By climbing up backs and balancing on shoulders, Catalonians of all ages stack their bodies on-top each other to build castells, or human towers. The structures are not typical fortresses-notably, they are made of flesh and bone rather than sandstone or granite-but their strong foundations serve as a unifying force for many Catalonians.
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These Death-Defying Human Towers Build on Catalan Tradition | Short Film Showcase
• These Death-Defying Hu...
National Geographic
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The practice was first documented in 1801 as a cultural activity and became a competition in the 1980s. To learn more, you can read on here: on.natgeo.com/31juv83
Can you give me one ❤️ heart please?
Hi Nat, I read the link of your comment, and the first sentece say: "Catalonia is known for its sea-side markets (la boqueria), gothic architecture -- championed by Antoni Gaudí -" Gaudi is a modernist architect, not gothic.
Nice short film. It is unfortunate that it becomes politicized with the first two sentences that do not follow the theme of the video.
You should be ashamed of yourself NAT GEO. you are propagating lies being told by the Catalan Separatist movement. The following statement is grossly inaccurate "Catalonia is ruled by the Spanish government, but its people have been constructing independent kingdoms for centuries." Catalonia is autonomic state within the kingdom of Spain which has a constitutional monarchy which guarantees its autonomy. Cataluña was never a kingdom EVER. It first appeared as a region under french protection as a buffer between moorish Spain and France. It was called the "marca hispanica." (Imagine that it's first name ever has the name hispanic in it, not Spanish at all lol). It later became incorporated into the Kingdom of Aragon through marriage. It was the Kingdom of Aragon that built an mediterranean empire which Catalunya was a part of and didn't really have a leadership role in the evolution of the kingdom
@@malvarez8484 that's completely inaccurate, please reread the story
The smiles of those little angles at the end. Beautiful.. Stay safe stay strong and god bless the ppl of Catalan ... love from Australia..
This is life. This is a community. Where every individual is unique but at the same time we cant live without eachother. And when we fall there is no fault but only love. This is real connecting. Where your skin, religion, job, wealth doesnt have a place. And in that moment we can make something pure, beautiful and breathtaking 💓
It is so beautiful and inspiring to see people working together in this way and sometimes you fall but you fall as one. When you succeed you succeed as one. This are human beings acting like human beings and it is beautiful to watch
Sometimes you die yes
I would love to practice this in the us but a lot of people here don’t even know they’re Catalans 🫥
Thanks for this wonderful short documentary. It helps a lot to explain abroad what Castells represent to us, the Catalans.
I love the way that it involves such a mixture of people from the strongest at the base graduating through all the layers to the lightest at the top. What great teams. Brilliant!
This was incredible. Deeply moving. Very human.
Observers say the practice is symbolic of togetherness, the elimination of class differences, and Catalonia’s welcoming atmosphere. To learn more, you can read on here: on.natgeo.com/31juv83
Catalanonia is amazing. I love my country, the people, the culture♥️
Lol!
"Very human!"
I think only humans were involved in this ceremony.
5:57 Wow...that coordination, that rythm in everyone's breath🙏
" When you are close to castell it's like being next to a beating heart. "
Wow , it sounds so poetic .
" that goes boom boom boom "
😂
Jokes apart , it was really a beautiful experience to watch this ,it indeed felt like watching a living poetry, kudos to their bravery especially those little kids. It taught me about a beautiful culture , their unity and courage . I'm happy it is declared as a cultural heritage by UNESCO .
We Indians also make human towers in schools and playgrounds to celebrate the birth of lord Krishna . I think this is part of some cultures around the world to celebrate things they believe in , it makes me happy and feel connected to them .
Strength in trust and unity. Dangerous yet with a very clear positive message. Hope this will never be forgotten. Absolutely beautiful.
I thought we were all doomed but I guess western regions still have hope
As a Catalan, can ' t help crying when I see Castells .. so touching and maravelous 💕
Thank you for sharing this beauty with the world. What a marvelous tradition, bringing communities together and creating such a marvel of human potential.
Qué maravilla de tradición catalana. Es loable que las antiguas plazas de toros sean ahora usadas para els Castellers. Catalunya de verdad es otra cosa.
Otra cosa que la Patagonia, le doy toda la razón.
@@SergioSovi Otra cosa diferente al estado español, coincido. La Patagonia es igualmente una tierra bellísima. Saludos!
@@raoularte Quizás piensa usted que España es un ente homogéno exceptuando Cataluña? Pocos países europeos me resultan más diversos que España. Una suerte.
@Swamp Thing Yo no lo creo. Ni a los pijos de Madrid.
cataluña tiene tradiciones taurinas muy violentas y yo que soy de aquí te lo puedo asegurar. Por cierto se escribe CataluÑa a menos que estés hablando catalán. Cuantos estereotipos ignorantes...
This is the greatest thing I've seen in my life.
We're glad you enjoyed watching! If you'd like to learn more, you can read on here: on.natgeo.com/31juv83
Dude there are like people dying
@@ruupnix569 I'm from spain, catalonia, and I can honestly tell you that NO ONE dies while doing human towers..
@@ruupnix569 Well, only 4 people had died doing castells. Believe it or not, it's safer than association football, basketball and handball. Castellers are incredibly trained and they hardly ever fall, that's because they only do the hardest castells when they are 100% sure nothing could go wrong.
@@marleon5820 i dont remember me saying that i-
What a beautiful short film! This might be my favorite piece of content of yours!
We're happy to hear that you enjoyed watching! If you'd like to learn more, you can read on here: on.natgeo.com/31juv83
looks dangerous
humans: lets do it again
Pero mola😂
Well its fun😂 and its a tradition.
Just look at cars. We travel more than 65mph and at those speeds you could easily die and yet we do it every day.
actually it just "look" dangerous...
Almost every physical sport can be dangerous. And castells are dangerous of getting hurt but not deadly, almost no one ever died doing them.
Força, equilibri, valor i seny
I esperit català.
@@eugeniapuypolls1374 l esperit español
@@latifithetruegoat9094 jajaja de eso hay Bien poco
@@hug4759 La mitad de la población no dice lo mismo .
@@ajog04 tienes Toda la razón. Es la mitad de la población que dice ser catalana pero no le gusta ninguna de las tradiciones catalanas. Todo muy peculiar
I'm from Vilafranca del Penedès (the green castellers waaay better than Terrasaa ones psst haha) and i loved this video. I feel very proud of this tradition, and glad that you made this documentary to show the rest of the world why we do this, you pictured the spirit behind it perfectly. I'm so glad to see in the comments that people find this tradition as beautiful as we think it is.
Pit i ovaris, visca la terra!
My grandfather helped to build the statue that appears in the 4:23 minute
jajaja. I'm from terrassa, de purple castellera. and we've been much better than the vilafranca. who did the first 4 de 10? amb amori carinyo des de terrassa. A veure si tornem a pujar ben amunt i competir com abans
I love this one. the story is told nicely. the cinematography is great. oh how much i love the color grading, it's so beautiful
When you are close to a castell it's like being close to a beating heart, this is so so true, when they are finishing the castell you can hear all the breaths stopping at once, people containing their breath and then when it goes whell everybody starting to scream and going to "live" again, it's a really magical moment
Thank you for this documentary National Geographic. You forgot to mention the gralla and the Toc de castells. This is coming from a Catalan and an American who was born and lives in Tarragona. This year I start university and they have a colla. I will take part in it as a gralla player.
FYI the place where the competition was held was an old bullring which is now used for castells every two years and for concerts. Some “traditions” just don’t fit in the 21st century.
The castells remind me of JFK when he said “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”.
Visca Catalunya lliure!
també han oblidat parlar de les colles internacionals, de les colles de catalunya nord i les illes, i de l'origen dels castells lligat a les muixerangues valencianes... etc
Visca!
Visca Catalunya i Visca Espanya!
Tot bé fins l'última frase.
This one had me tearing up for every emotional reason I can think of. Absolutely powerful on so many levels.
Such a beautiful reminder of what we can accomplish together. Hard to imagine in today's society, especially in the U.S...Amazing video 👏🏼😊
One thing missing at the top is a Dahi Handi. 😉
These are true professionals and their team knows all the risks involved in it. Kudos to them for continuing their culture! 😍
Sale India me dekh ke Gaye honge or Bolte hain aur culture 😂 kabhi ao bharat
Why don't u put that dahi shii on urself?? Exactly stfu
Castellers and govindas have actually been collaborating a lot in recent years! A govinda team came to Tarragona for the 2018 castells contest. There's a great documentary on Vimeo called "Melting Pot" about when a castells team from Barcelona went to Mumbai to participate in the Dahi Handi festival.
KAWAHI LEONARD well dahi is a cold dairy product and right now you have a dire need to put that on your butts...........butthurt moron...🤣🤣🤣
I'm also an Indian and can understand what you was trying to say but I still think that you should have phrased your words better about the Dahi Handi, it's not part of their culture to put a Dahi handi so there is nothing missing here .
Thanks, National Geographic.
This is beautifully shot and very informative, but I find it weird that they chose to interview these people in Spanish when they are well aware of the link between castells and the catalan language
Yeah but in catalonia we speak spanish, only a few people are left speaking catalan. Just in schools and offices you are forced to talk catalan. u_u
That is just not true. 4 milion people speak it in a daily basis, even more that castillian@@BmuXD
Porque crees tú que se hacen en castellano? 😂 no es muy difícil de deducir.
@@jeppons1218 Where did you read that?
@@BmuXD first of all, anybody is forced to speak in catalan, ok? Don't say that, please... Second. Catalan is spoken by millions of persons in their dayli lives.
I'm in Tarragona and definitely I will watch these castells on the place of the Cathedral.
I hope you liked it
Oh my god..Perfect Amazing💜
Honestly...what a wonderful and valuable tradition of mankind!
why interview these people in castillian instead of catalan? when precisely it is said at the beginning that we, catalans, we have had to fight for centuries to preserve our language ..? and when you have subtitles in english ..
Perquè son uns nyordos
THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL SHORT FILM! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ARTISTRY!
Hola Carissa
Freedom for Catalonia
Catalonia is not Spain
Spain is a fascist state
INDEPENDENCIA
This is how I imagine humans first tried to reach the sky back when they started worshipping gods
** that would be cool but i always imagined that they left the gods alone. mt. olympus was possible to climb for ancient greeks but everyone kinda just, didnt. people just minded their business really and left it to their faith.
Only the ignorant arrogant ones tried that.
It's thought that castells derive from a custom of religious processions which included human figures representing religious iconography, although today castells have no religious meaning.
The similar Indian custom of Govindas represents an episode from the childhood of the god Krishna.
It seems like you're the arrogant one around here.
❤ я под впечатлением .
Фильм потрясающий.
Hard to believe people can do this but we saw it with our own eyes in a plaza in Barcelona. Amazing documentary!
*These people are better at balancing*
than I balance responsibilities
Duchi hilarious
Just INCREDIBLE! the amount of trust and practice needed would of been out of this world! nice one!
Visca els Castellers, freedom for Catalonia.
And I can barely carry my baby sister on my back this is so amazing!
At first when I saw a castell I thought, how is something with such high risk (especially with kids involved) allowed in a developed nation? But then after you listen to the back story you understand why. It just shows the importance of educating yourself and having an open mind before speaking and the story behind it is truly beautiful (although I still think it’s perhaps a bit too unsafe for kids)
First of all, thanks for the effort you put into comprehending castells!
Second, on your worries about children, take into account that only 3% of castells end up falling.
In addition, universities in Catalonia have made a huge effort collaborating to ensure everyones safety. It is calculated that the people at the floor level (the "pinya") absorve (if I remember it well) 60% of the impact compared to a direct impact to the floor.
Even more, a special helmet was designed to protect children. There's only been one death in recent history, it was from a child when these special helmets were still not used, and in a town where, unfortunately, they overestimated the amount of people at the pinya, which was insuficient. Since the helmet's introduction, no other child has died or been severely injured (and adults have not died either).
One last fact, there are more injuries related to children football in Catalonia than to castells! (Although the ones at castells are worse for the adults)
Hope I've given some interesant information! :)
I liked the short film, what i disliked is the title, it gives the impresion that ggreat injures are common in the castells, witch is not
Wow . Absolutely stunning . The determination of those kids !
Fantastic! What a splendidly human tradition. ❤
I can't look! (Covers her Eyes)
This is a typical Dhai Handi night every year in India. Reminds me so much of the Dhai handi festival...
Yes! It's amazing that humans even if we are different and far away we can still have some similar traditions and emotions! That's called humanity and it's beautiful 🥰
This is Amazing and feeling deeply touching
Great video!!
WOW! Simply amazing and beautiful!
😎💯✌👉💕👈✌💯😎
This is amazing
Imagine if they stay like that for 50 years straight
Just What ? ? ?
I could never trust another human this much.
This is one of my favorite traditions. Spain is such a marvelous country!
CATALONIA IS NOT SPAIN. THE OPRESSION TO CATALONIA COMES FROM SPAIN. FREE CATALONIA
@@lacuinaalcor6851 TABARNIA IS NOT CATALONIA. THE OPRESSION TO TABARNIA COMES FROM CATALONIA. FREE TABARNIA
@@lacuinaalcor6851 Castellers are from Valls - Tabarnia - Spain
@@jangofett7857 que tabarnia ni que hostias, te asusta que las encuestas nos den el 50%? Et dona por saber que Cs caurà i tindria menys escons que el PP? Et dona por saber que aquell ridícul que vau fer ha quedat a l'oblit
@@lacuinaalcor6851 as puxat a algun castell.... ja to dic jo, no segur... ets un barreire, ni saps que vol dir..
The world needs more NatGeo! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Thanks you guys!
He said, it's for eveyone, you could be a baker, a doctor, or a popsicle.
He said "paleta" which means a construction worker, "paleto" is used to say someone is dumb (the word is related to the job, that's why its a bit offensive), but here he said paleta referring the job lmao (idk if whith popsicle u meant dumb or smth else srry)
this is not latin american dialect, paleta means construction worker not pospsicle
What's up with Spain, and its inner communities, and life threatening traditions? At least no innocent bulls are harmed, here.
jippalippa just curious, where you from?
Some people like shooting guns for fun some people like to do this, at the end of the day which one kills more people?
The same can be said of any country with some kind of contact sport
Castells are actually less dangerous -- with less risk of injury -- than football (soccer or American), hockey, and many other sports that people play with no hesitation. They don't explain this in the documentary, but every part of casteller technique is designed to make the activity as safe as possible.
@@montrealais I 100% agree american football is a very dangerous sport. I'm absolutely on the same page as you, here.
So beautiful, truly inspiring
Inspiring for what?? Wakwkkwkak 😂😂😂😂. Come oonnn hahahhah
Proud to be catalan ✊
Kudos to their bravery...
visca Catalunya lliure! les nostres tradicions mai moriran! despertaferro!
Knowing me I'd probably be the reason the tower collapses.
What a great short film
Que belleza de tradición y video. Gracias ♥️✌️
Amazing! what courage they have
Freedom for Catalonia
The central metaphor of a great people.
Amazing Video 🇮🇳
This is deeply moving.
thanks for showing with this video the heart of the catalan people.
Visca Catalunya lliure!!
Kinda sad they didn't do these interviews or voice-overs in Catalan, they should've been able to speak in their own language…
Agreed
Yeah but 70% of us catalans speak mainly spanish
@@BmuXD not the ones in the video, you can tell catalan is their first language
@@gispertnuriaCatalan is also my first language, yknow? 30% is not that low of a percentage
@@BmuXD diga'm que ets de "Barcelona" sense ser de "Barcelona"
What a spectacular. Thank you.
Thank you! Visca catalunya
Visca!
This brought me to tears
Beautifully made...
Beautiful traditions
Good documentary, the unique claim I have is that I don't understand you made the people speak in Spanish, because is the language that is destroying the Catalan language, and people don't like it,.
Similar type of practice in Hinduism on Holi
This beauteful ❤❤❤❤
Fantastic .
Amazing story, thanks for sharing :)
We're glad you enjoyed watching! If you'd like to learn more, you can read on here: on.natgeo.com/31juv83
show of genius
orgullosa de ser catalana💪❤
Free Catalonia!
Visca catalunya, visca la terra i visca les seves tradicions!
It's a beautiful tradition, I wished it was not a competition like in these recent years, everything is competing and that takes away the spirit, the meaning of union and love for the country that once had. Catalans have sardanes and castells both consist on holding each other in union with the music played at the same time. Amazing people.
Lol, It's not a truly competition all the Colles are united and it's only a competition in Tarragona every 2 years, and if there is competition we can achieve taller and better Castells.
Don't get why the union as a concept is seen as good but not overcome and self improvement??
Very beautiful video!
This is so nicr
This is great completely great.
Beautiful video😍
Un documental muy hermoso. Igual de bello que la gente catalana
ayy gracias 😵❤
Why have we’ve seen this over a million times but not the world?
Any kid who plays soccer in a team since childhood suffers more damage than a casteller child ... how much hypocrisy
I’ve never seen a bunch of kids hauled away from a soccer field with neck braces. I’d love to see a link to your statistics. I’m sure some kids get hurt worse but saying any kid who play from a young age seems just silly. I played soccer through varsity and never had a need for a neck brace or any other serious injury, some grass burns. I know a guy that broke his leg pretty badly but he was the exception not the rule.
Adults putting children in danger. Why no safety lines?
Children are rational than most adults. If they don't see it clearly (for example: the structure moves too much), they refuse to climb or continue climbing.
Surely those kiddos added to be castellers also play soccer, so take it easy
beautiful
Some people like shooting guns for fun some people like to do this, at the end of the day which one kills more people???
Guns
The problem in USA with guns (I assume you are from there) is that at the end of the day the guns doesn't stop shooting, and is not for fun anymore.
No entenc perquè han hagut de narrar el video en castellà si hi ha subtítols en anglès igualment però vaja, el video està molt ben fet.
Tiene sentido. Querrán traer ese vídeo a su tierra y que lo vea su gente.
Thanks to *National Geographic* for showing this story, as it relates to *"Govinda"* the most celebrated festival in Mumbai - Maharashtra.(India)
Imagine they had to pee
The Fun channel LOL 😂
The Fun channel and pig there nose 👃
The Fun channel rude
Imagine peing down it and distracting the people at the base
This might be the end of this UA-cam comment 😭 only if I had reinforcements
As a catalan, my language is the most valuous treasure that I have. the speakers in this video are speaking spanish! but they are clearly catalan speakers. its a shame, and and unrespectfull to ask them for speaking spanish
incredibile che bella cosa culturale
Spain's a country of other level. Congratulations 👏👏🇪🇦🖤
gracias profe karina
Has nobody noticed that they all speak Spanish? Que parlin català, collons
Visca la Terra!
Un altre nacionalista. Què importa l'idioma que parlin amb el documental si l'objectiu es que la cultura catalana arrivi a més gent. Et fot que perquè arrivi a més gent hagin de parlar en castellà?
@@ajog04 Quin geni diu que l'objectiu (no sé exactament de qui) és el de fer arribar més gent a la cultura catalana? Es tracta de dignitat nacional, i no en tenim, i per això ens fan els documentals en castellà, una llengua estrangera, només considerada altrament degut a la situació política en què ens trobem, perquè els catalanets en qüestió assumeixen que és una llengua més "inclusiva" que la pròpia, que l'ús del castellà farà que els odiïn una mica menys quan els vegin. I em fot, sí, em fot.
FREEDOM FOR CATALONIA🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️
Valencia is not Catalonia. The Valencian language is not the same as the Catalan language. The Catalan tradition of the Castells or Dance of the Valencians is not as old as it seems and these also have their origins this time, in the ancient Valencian Muixaranga that can still be seen and enjoyed in Algemesí (Valencia). Catalan nationalism has been appropriating the culture and language of its Valencian and Mallorcan neighbors for years and, among other things, with the Castells, the language, etc., what they want is to culturally structure their fictional and false Catalan countries. In Valencia we want to speak Spanish but also Valencian and not the standard Catalan that Catalan and Spanish nationalism wants to impose on us.
@@juanvicentevallscalatayud9825 jajajaja et passa algo? Fotre aquest rotllo sobre València després duna simple consigna diu força sobre la teva salut mental.
El Castillo es algo ermoso de los cielos