For all of us, there is a place, a small point in the immense world, where, without even looking, we find ourselves, perhaps by accident, but with that feeling of certainty that we should be there. For French filmmaker Claire Blanchere Senac, the town of Junquillal Beach, in Guanacaste, is this magical place.

Film making is 27-year-old Senac’s passion. She eats, dreams, thinks and breathes videos. She knew there was no other way to express her magical “accident” than through her video camera, and she produced two beautiful videos: Wander in Paradise and La Gran Carrera (The Great Race).

Wander in Paradise, a video made for a group of tourism companies in the area, shows all of Junquillal– its people, beauty, flora and fauna (above and below water), traditions, culture and heartbeat, with impeccable artistic directing and editing. It is so well done that it earned the “Vimeo Staff Pick” award from the Vimeo platform.

Wander in Paradise– filmed in June and July of 2014– received more than 130,000 views and international attention.

SENAC worked on the video based on a universal sentiment: wanting to share something beautiful and unique with loved ones but not being able to do so for one reason or another. She dedicated the video to her grandparents because they will never have the good fortune of “seeing this marvelous town,” said Senac.

In La Gran Carrera, Senac wanted to help the Junquillal Development Association promote and enhance appreciation for the carrera de cintas (ribbon race- a race on horseback in which riders aim for ribbons hanging from a rope), a Costa Rican tradition, mostly in the Guanacaste plains, that isn’t very well known beyond the gates of the province despite its beauty.  

Absorbed in showing the authenticity in an artistic way but with modern editing, Senac succeeds in generating a desire to see and even participate in the great race.

“I love the plains culture of Guanacaste for its courage and respectful fondness for nature, and in the case of the carrera de cintas, for the tradition’s aesthetics through the strong elegance of the riders, in their outfits, their posture and their faces that are always very expressive,” the artist related.

We share her videos with you so you can see Junquillal through the magical lens of Senac’s camera.

Claire Blanchere Senac worked for French television, production and international brands in Paris for more than seven years.

[video:https://vimeo.com/118064727 width:800 align:center autoplay:0]