Tristan Bourlard

Film Director

Tristan Bourlard directed Around the World in 80 Lodges, an investigative documentary that took him across five continents to visit 80 Masonic lodges. The film captures masons in their everyday lives, revealing communities shaped by centuries of local culture and tradition since Freemasonry's official founding in London in 1717.

Produced by Nexus Factory and distributed by Distri7, the documentary premiered at the Mother Lodge of Scotland in February 2017 and has since been presented at festivals and events internationally.

The documentary takes viewers on a methodical journey across five continents, tracing the living presence of an institution whose modern form was established in London more than three centuries ago. Rather than relying on archival material alone, the film steps directly into lodge halls and private gatherings, capturing the rituals and conversations that define contemporary Masonic life. This observational approach allows the camera to record what typically remains unseen, offering a perspective grounded in firsthand encounter rather than speculation or hearsay.

Freemasonry has long attracted curiosity and conjecture, yet its day-to-day reality often escapes public understanding. The film addresses this gap by visiting eighty distinct lodges, each with its own character, traditions, and community dynamics. Some occupy grand historic buildings in European city centers, while others meet in modest rooms in far-flung regions. Across these varied settings, a common thread emerges: members gathering regularly to participate in structured ceremonies and to sustain bonds that span generations and geographies.

The production was undertaken by Nexus Factory, a team accustomed to long-form investigative projects requiring patience and cultural sensitivity. Gaining access to lodge interiors demanded months of relationship-building, since many Masonic spaces are not open to outside observers. The crew traveled with minimal equipment, favoring unobtrusive setups that preserved the atmosphere of each meeting. This restrained production style mirrors the film's broader ethos: observe carefully, intervene lightly, and let the subjects speak for themselves.

Distribution is handled by Distri7, with physical DVD editions available in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. For digital audiences, the film can be streamed through iTunes across more than fifteen countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. This dual-format release strategy ensures that viewers in different regions and with different viewing habits can access the documentary without unnecessary barriers.

The visual language of the film favors steady, composed frames that echo the measured atmosphere of the lodges themselves. Interiors are shot with natural or available light whenever possible, preserving the authentic warmth of wood-paneled chambers and the gleam of ceremonial regalia. Exterior sequences situate lodge buildings within their urban or rural contexts, reminding the viewer that these often-discreet structures belong to ordinary streets and neighborhoods rather than hidden or unreachable worlds.

Interview segments form the backbone of the narrative, featuring members who range from newly initiated apprentices to grand officers with decades of service. Their testimony covers personal motivations for joining, the role of symbolic ritual in modern life, and the philanthropic activities that many lodges quietly undertake. The film does not advance a single thesis but instead assembles a mosaic of individual voices, allowing the diversity of Masonic experience to accumulate naturally across its running time.

The timing of the project aligns with the tercentenary of the founding of the first Grand Lodge, a milestone that prompted reflection within the fraternity and renewed interest from historians and journalists. Rather than producing a commemorative overview, the filmmakers chose to document the institution as it actually operates today, warts and all. This choice lends the work a journalistic texture that distinguishes it from celebratory or promotional treatments of the subject.

Beyond its documentary value, the film serves as a cultural travelogue, moving through cities and landscapes that span hemispheres. From European capitals to African townships, from North American suburbs to South American highlands, the itinerary reveals how a single organizational model adapts to vastly different cultural soils. The lodges become waypoints on a map that charts not only geography but also the human impulse toward ritual, fellowship, and the search for meaning.