Big Water Theory

LONG SYNOPSIS:
Follow French kayak superstar Nouria Newman and two childhood friends, as they navigate one of the world’s most challenging sections of whitewater: the Rondu Gorge of the Indus River, in Pakistan.
Documenting Nouria's attempt at completing the first integral descent of the Rondu Gorge by a woman, Big Water Theory is a compelling exploration of human spirit and the relentless pursuit of adventure.
It offers a powerful and inspiring, yet highly detailed and informative look at the world of extreme kayaking.
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Karakoram mountains, the film highlights the irreversible nature of the sport, with heart-pounding descents that test the kayakers' psychological and physical limits.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT:
This project started out as a social media content shoot, made possible by the numerous vantage points offered by the road to Skardu on the Indus River.
Yet, as a non-kayaker with but little knowledge of the sport in spite of it being somewhat of a family hobby, my instinct following this expedition was to film and document the whole story to make sense out of it for myself.
This lead to paying attention to aspects of this spectacular sport that are not usually detailed in films—especially the challenges behind the constant water mouvements interpretation and strenuous decision-making process at play while scouting rapids.
With the help of the protagonists, we thus filmed this trip not only to tell its story and immerse the audience in this whitewater adventure on the Indus River, but to share my own experience of uncovering and understanding what it takes, in practical terms, to paddle the most difficult and awe-inspiring rivers in the world.
The paddlers, and in particular Nouria, willfully took up both the roles of “adventurer-athlete’’ and of “presenters’’ of their sport, delivering a truthful, highly detailed big water kayaking masterclass in images as much as in words.
The film that results is a joint attempt at delivering a fine blend of expedition diary and extreme sports anatomy.
We have yet to find out if this approach retains interest for an audience of kayakers, but I do hope a wider public will enjoy discovering in this film, as I did, the many subtle yet fascinating intricacies of this incredibly complex water sport.