Following Martin Sheen's The Way and Lydia Smith's Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago, this 2017 nonfiction short feature from filmmakers Annie O'Neill (a co-producer of "Walking the Camino") and Jessica Lewis examines another facet of the Christian pilgrimage trail in France and Spain, El Camino de Santiago, leading the devout on foot to the tomb of St. James. But here the principle setting is outside Seattle, Washington, where stage-four cancer patient Phil Volker, an amicable, outdoorsy Catholic, decides not to pursue aggressive treatments any longer. He self-treats via constructing his own scaled-down, metaphorical version of the Camino on his 10-acre rural property. Faithfully walking his own Camino year-round (sometimes in the company of visitors and family) supplements Phil's prayer circles and pills. Phil does not seek a miracle cure but rather contemplation, acceptance, and spiritual transcendence. Then Phil gets an unexpected opportunity to walk the real Camino. While the soundtrack music may be overly insistent, the gentle spirit of the piece, reverent both of nature and God, makes it a superior inspirational film (and as good a promo for al fresco walking as anything on the Appalachian Trail). A 28-minute abridged version is also available. (Aud: H, C, P)
Phil's Camino
Phil's Camino
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: