WHAT? A film with no dialogue? And for international release at that – for free?

Gogol Lobmayr, a renowned filmmaker, director, cameraman and producer who has piled up 30 years of experience in the art has done it before, and he is doing it again for nature shots in the Philippines – Bohol included. His Fascinating Nature trilogy: The Most Spectacular Landscapes in the World; Colours of Earth; and Seven Seasons that became bestsellers and are now available in DVDs have the Lobmayr master stroke – no dialogues, not even narratives – but only the accompaniment of special original composed music of Michael Hofman de Boer, he told Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado and the Provincial Tourism Council (PTC) chaired by Peter Dejaresco during a meeting at the Bohol Bee Farm in Dao, Dauis town. To say that the native Bavarian adores the beauty of nature is an understatement. He loves nature and have made it the subject of his films that have no narratives. “These [narratives] are just ‘intrusive'. In the end, the viewer will recall only a little of the film. On the other hand, narrative-less films will engulf, awe, mesmerize, enthrall and captivate the viewers,” he explained.

In his trilogy, Lobmayr captured such scenes as an iguana-shaped iceberg, an arid red wasteland dwarfing a man – the cliffs already rounded with the action of wind and sand through the years, an icecap, a lion in all its majesty, lion cubs, a herd of elephants, and even the intricacy of an orchid's presentation – an irregularly shaped flower. Lobmayr said his supersensitive camera can go as fast as 24 frames per second. This means a whole sunset can be squeezed into just 10 minutes. He brought a lean but mean team – only two men. A local guide, a security escort and a driver rounded up the team. Lobmayr himself positions the tripod and takes shots – just requesting a table to put his camera mounted on a tripod for a better take now and then.

Cristopher Boncales, the guide and Aumentado's designated protocol officer said Lobmayr intimated to him that the camera costs the equivalent of P15 million. For this Philippine trip, he had the equipment insured for 2,500 euros. Lobmayr's Bohol trek brought his team also to the tarsier sanctuary in Corella town, a cruise up the Loboc river, the man-made forest at the boundary of Loboc and Bilar towns, the powdery white sand beaches of the Bohol Beach Club, the coves and cliffs of the Panglao Island Nature Resort, old stone churches like those of Baclayon and Albur towns, and interesting spots like hanging bridges.

The provincial government tendered some of the team's meals so that the trek was a gastronomic adventure at the same time: fresh seafoods at the Prawn Farm at the Island City Mall in Tagbilaran City, salad greens and flowers at the Bee Farm, Boholano cuisine at the Loboc River Cruise, the Chocolate Hills, and Corella, and a “taste of home” at the Alona Palm Beach and the Peacock Garden Luxury Resort and Spa in Baclayon. It did not come as a surprise when Lobmayr requested Aumentado to pose at a poolside table at the Peacock Garden and converse as if entertaining guests with the house's most colorful drinks as props and with the white crests of the waves and Pamilacan Island behind as backdrop. Asked if they were interested to film the dolphins and whales that pass by Pamilacan this time of the year, the Lobmayr team declined. Having gone to practically all corners of the globe, the filmmaker said, “Dolphins are everywhere, but the Chocolate Hills and the tarsiers are uniquely Bohol 's.”