hexagono docuseries youtube channel and podcast
Art • Movement • Family • Balance • Dreams • Planet
about us
Hexagono is a dream shared between two friends which found support from other people and two companies and were thus able to manifest the project. Our first concern was to find ways in which we could promote and further the dignification of artisans in Portugal and it quickly expanded to encompass ecological concerns. Structured around a family circle it seeks to gather experiences and examples of active participation in the world’s concern regarding the future of the planet and next generations. We have now matured our ambitions and would like to form a club and a community that is willing to pledge to change, both in regard to ecology and heritage. Hexagono is a platform for gathering, sharing and storing information seeking to involve its subscribers to come and join our pledge.
The family concern is the Leandro family, a vast Portuguese clan of friends and family members that have established a long tradition in Surf’s History. You can find a link regarding this here:
We have so far developed and recorded small documentaries we call “documents”. Here we share and introduce all the people and projects you will see take shape around these two companies and family. The Channel is curated by Gonçalo Leandro and Amadeo Lopes, the friends that imagineered this concept. Besides the YouTube channel we will feature a monthly podcast to help share the experience and stories of our guests and members. We hope to grow and mutate accordingly maintaining our principles of sustainability, friendship and transparency.
concepts & values
It is our firm belief that Restauro (Restoration) is needed as the guiding force of a generation screaming for change. A combination of apparent contradiction where the future is marked by the ability to change the past and present with new gestures and ways of life that do not damage the planet, while simultaneously cherishing the legacy and working towards the preservation of craftsmanship, ancient buildings and even family unity. We value movement which is expressed not only in the Surf practice and history of this family, but also in the physicality many of the endevours demand. Its not sufficient to imagine but we have to walk the way.
We value inclusion as a means to express the principle that it is not only up to us, but up to all of us regardless of race, gender, economic status etc. We do not engage in any political argument that involves armed action to those we can only say Basta! (enough) We look for children to guide us with their innocent action, using discernment without repression. We also believe in correcting where needed our short fallings, quickly and swiftly, on these values.
Youtube
docuseries
We have largely debated the current state of over saturation of imagery in this world, but it seems inescapable. The concept of Restoration applies here, we aim to effectively be “back to basics” in our treatment of the documents presented here. Avoiding special effects and elaborate montage design to seduce the eye of the viewer and present a more crude depiction of action without of course being too austere.
The shots and montage are deliberately seeking to give time and space for the visual cortex to identify, discern and taste accordingly, again avoiding assault on the senses. We also do not include anyone that is not willing to see their image or representation on our channel nor record in moments we are firmly told not to. The means of production are not optimal, but we will grow keeping a grounded attitude of working with what is sufficient to deliver the necessary messages.
Finally, we have not come across other formats like ours so its an experiment of sorts.
Be patient please as we intend to grow and evolve our work.
Playlist 3
Playlist 2
Playlist 1
who we are
We are a collective of individual contributors to Hexagono with specific professional tools and experiences gathered. Although we have at the moment more in depth knowledge of such skills. This does not mean it will remain so, therefore we hope to work together in a circle and flexible flow.
Again this collective will grow and develop as well to be able to work and change roles. We also hope many more will join in the future, as it would be fantastic if our community shares with us films of their activities. In order to maintain some coherence we opted to keep curatorship of the channel in the hands of the initial creators of Hexagono.
Friendship and respect is at the basis of this team.
Daniela St Aubyn
collective
Profissional com paixão pela engenharia desde muito pequena. Lutadora dos seus sonhos, entrega de corpo e alma em projetos. Com a vertente de gestão ao longo da experiência, desenvolveu as capacidades de liderança e espírito de equipa para aceitar qualquer desafio.
Mariša Semič
collective
My name is Mariša. I grew up in a small country in the middle of Europe, called Slovenia. Spent my childhood and adolescence playing viola and practicing different sports. In the middle of my high school studying, I decided to be a primary education teacher. And I followed my “dreams”. I went to the Faculty of Education but Erasmus exchange in Lisbon that I did in my fourth year of studying, changed my plans. After graduation I decided to go back to Portugal. But my 2 week holidays in Lisbon extended to almost 10 years. A lot has changed in my life since that time.
Gonçalo Leandro
collective
I was born on March 10th, 1975, at the Lisbon Military Hospital. I thought I was going to be a doctor, but after stumbling upon a restoration workshop I ended up studying at both schools of FRESS – Fundação Ricardo Espírito Santo Silva. I then worked for about seven years as a furniture restorer and later in 2003, I ended up founding WOA – Way of Arts, a company that has been developing its activity in the field of heritage conservation and restoration. Arts and crafts in general are an old passion, and so I have tried in the past two decades to dignify the professions associated with them and to place them back where they deserve. The work took me to many places, from the most famous palaces of Sintra, to the Church of Glory in Rio de Janeiro or the Queen’s room at Buckingham Palace, not forgetting a unique experience with Portuguese and Chinese artists and craftsmen in the valleys of Jiu Xian, in China. More recently I returned to writing, with the publication of the book “The Yellow Shirt Man”, I was a co-creator of a documentary channel called h e x a g o n o, and I have been working with various European partners on education projects that aim primarily to highlight the importance of manual practice in building healthier minds.
Amadeo Lopes
collective
My name is Amadeo Lopes I was born in Monte Estoril, Portugal, in 1972. In childhood I was interested in sports. Later in life I become interested in Film and Philosophy. Today I am a documentarist and content reviewer. I have a strong interest in food and wine, world cultures, and world cinema, and enjoy spending time at the beach swimming and just looking at the sky. I am a trailblazer in the field of documentaries in what concerns theory to practice and am not too far from finishing my PhD (Culture Studies, UCP 2016) hopefully in documentary format. I lived and studied in London for 11 years, where I did my BA Hons (2000) and Postgraduate Diploma (2001) in Film Studies and Gender Studies, accordingly. I have a few films under my belt, but continue to think of myself as an amateur always learning and developing. I love to work with people that are friendly and passionate about what they are doing and thus found a spot on the Hexagono project I cherish. We are venturing into new territory, all of us and that is always a fun job to do. I love the unknown and am still curious to engage with the future, making new mistakes and learning some more. Very happy to be here!
Catarina Santos
collective
My name is Catarina Santos, I was born in Paris 1965. I have been involved in filmmaking for over 3 decades in Portugal, nonetheless I started my professional and educational life as a classic dancer. It gave me the discipline and hardworking mindset that allowed me to develop a parallel project in Mindelo, Cape Verde, where I created a Hotel Boutique Casa Café Mindelo, while mothering a lovely daughter that spent most of her childhood in the friendly Islands. When I returned to Lisbon I worked with a colleague Dance Choreographer Aldara Bizarro and manage to get involved with filmmaking again. I refreshed my technical skills with a Post Production in Video course at Restart (date) and followed to enrich my intelectual perspective as a business owner in Cape Verde with a Degree in Anthropology (ISCTE, 2020) at the moment I am half way through the MA in Visual Anthropology (Nova de Lisboa, date). I am very passionate about the Atelier at WOA and the artisans work as well as the story of the objects themselves. I have always been an avid reader of both film and books. I take to the beach every summer and enjoy swimming and walking in the woods with my dog whenever I can. I came to this project in a difficult moment when it was coming off the ground and am very happy to finally see it come to life. I am a perfectionist which can be hard to live with, but I often only critique what I am willing to change or better. I am keen on editing where I can best use this character trait together with a genuine concern for detail and quality. We have a long way to go to find optimum quality and content, but I hope to help whenever I can.
Inês Caeiro
collective
I was born in April, 2003. I am a Psychology Bachelor in ISPA and a dance and photography enthusiast.
My early childhood years were spent in Costa da Caparica, surrounded by nature, family and neighbors. Growing up, I would have the beautiful habit of coming home from school to ride my bike all afternoon.
In 2011, I moved to Lisbon. For 6 years I became a gymnast in GCP, where I had the opportunity to travel and learn a lot about the body and its movements. My academic path seemed destined to the sports world. I was going to become a physiotherapist.
However, during the Covid pandemic, observing everybody stuck with nothing but each other, I got interested in people’s behavior. I decided to study Psychology. And I have now the pleasure to say I volunteered for 2 years in a project impacting the Cruz Vermelha Neighborhood in Lisbon. Us students got to be there for the kids, helping them work on their self-esteem, behavioral habits, educational problems and family issues. I believe I helped them to envisage a brighter future for themselves.
On the other hand, as a teenager I was always very captivated by the creative ways to capture an image — the art of Photography. As an Arts Teacher’s daughter, who continually challenged me to dive into a wide range of artistic experiences, my creative side is always present and wanting to come out. Cinema would be permanently around me.
Becoming a part of HEXAGONO as video editor, allows me not only to continue this path, but to connect image and people, honoring the in-between work. I hope to make justice to the material I will be working with throughout this journey, while gaining new skills and developing the tools to create captivating content — as it deserves to be.
sponsors
As a restorer I’ve been trying to bring a new life to objects and ancient heritage together with a team that I’ve build up during the past two decades. More then taking good care of what we believe are important material things I’ve been trying to take good care, as much as I can, of my mind and the human heritage with who I’ve been sharing my life. Believe me, some times I got far from achieving it, but the persistence in keeping in track with what I believe are good values, allows me to say that during this last decade I’ve become much more focused and happy then I was before, and that my team, family and friends with who I share my life, have been positively influenced by this change.
In our hexagono channel, has one open community, we’ll welcome individuals, institutions or companies that would like to contribute in different ways like sharing honest and positive contents, spreading our channel through their networking, donating or sponsoring so that we are more supported in our journey. I can say that anyone is welcome to join us in this ride, the only request and it’s not a small one, is that the path you’re creating it’s based on values that include a search for the well-being of us all.
