Weekly Watchlist - Week 10 - ShAFF

Dedicate - Diving Free

Jacques de Vos is an underwater photographer who spends most his time freediving with orcas.

Jacques de Vos is an underwater photographer who spends most his time freediving with orcas.

Helped by his crew, this South African became an expert in finding these incredible creatures in the ocean and spending a few seconds swimming with them underwater.

We followed the man who freedives with orcas on one of his most beautiful expeditions, completed last winter in north of Norway.

Ascend

A short film describing how Jon Wilson, who lost his leg to cancer, uses mountain biking to sink his teeth back into life.

As a young adult, Jon Wilson lost his leg to cancer. During his recovery, Jon’s family and friends bought him a bike. He hopped on it and through the pain he felt a rush that he knew was both inspirational and essential. 

 Since that day, mountain biking has played a critical role in helping Jon sink his teeth back into life. Ascend is a six-minute short that attempts to articulate how a passion feeds, nurtures, and elevates one’s physical and spiritual ceiling. Simon Perkins, the film’s director, wanted to give others a glimpse of why he feels lucky to call Jon a friend. 

“Jon does three important things for me in my life: he inspires me; he gives me perspective; and he repeatedly puts me in my place, especially on single track.”

Beyond the Wall

Freedom through climbing in a divided land

In spring 2016, the first climbing gym was opened in Palestine as part of the Wadi Climbing project, to help develop the Palestinian climbing community. Based in the West Bank city of Ramallah and close to the nearby wall crossing point of Qalandiya to reach East Jerusalem, these are places better known as flashpoints for Israeli/Palestinian tensions. 

Primarily through the eyes of West Bank residents, Anas Askar and his brother Urwah, the film takes a look at being a climber in Palestine and the problems that impromptu roadblocks and illegal settlements can mean in order to just reach the crag. 

Ultimately, irrespective of where we live the film hopefully shows that to a lesser or greater degree the reasons why we climb are the same. Filmmaker, Ray Wood, and writer, Ed Douglas, worked together on the short film that Paul Difley put together in the edit room.

Blood Road

Rebecca Rusch takes a journey along the 1,800 kilometre Ho Chi Minh trail through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

What an incredible film must watch for everyone who visits the festival it has everything from incredible sport t, storyline teachers I stole something of the past and the future.

Ed Birch Director of Salt-Street productions

I highly recommend this film! An incredible adventure on bikes along the Ho Chi Min trail which also explores the impact of war, physical and emotional. I really felt like I was with them on their journey.

Anna Paxton

fabulous character portrait, beautifully made, with a huge emotional punch

Paul Hodgson Music Judge

The political becomes personal in Blood Road. What starts out as a mountain bike expedition becomes a deeply moving reflection on the harsh loss of war and the importance of forgiveness.

Ruth Farrar

Intriguing adventure into the political and personal past and the present by bike

Claire Carter Writer, Film Officer for Kendal Mountain Festival, 'Creative Consultant'.

Blood Road follows the journey of ultra-endurance mountain bike athlete Rebecca Rusch and her Vietnamese riding partner, Huyen Nguyen, as they pedal 1,200 miles along the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail through the dense jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 

Their goal: to reach the crash site and final resting place of Rebecca’s father, a U.S. Air Force pilot shot down over Laos some 40 years earlier. 

 During this poignant voyage of self discovery, the women push their bodies to the limit while learning more about the historic ‘Blood Road’ they’re pedalling and how the Vietnam War shaped their lives in different ways.

Bruhwiler Country

Pro surfer Raph Bruhwiler cut his teeth in in the woods and waves of Vancouver Island. Today he shares his love of the wild with his kids.

Coming up with a second act after a pro surfing career can be a tough one to pull off. Mastery in wave riding after all, doesn’t necessarily transfer to the wider job market. 

But the skill set Raph Bruhwiler developed as Canada’s first professional surfer entailed a lot more than honing the perfect cutback. Uncovering the surf potential of Vancouver Island meant becoming an expert in coastal navigation, wilderness survival, and maritime operations. 

The exact requirements for the work he now does in the Canadian Coast Guard as a rescue specialist based in his hometown of Tofino, British Columbia, where he and his wife and 3 children live and surf.