ShAFF 2020 - Run Films 1

A selection of the best running films from the last year.

This is the last ShAFF 2020 screening before we launch this year's programme next week.

A Long Day Out - 12 minutes

Kilian Jornet stars in the short documentary “A long day out”, an adventure within anyone’s reach. The video, shown on a Youtube premiere, features an excursion which the runner begins from his house in Norway and takes him on a tour of the mountains of the Romsdal Fjord. Through Kilian Jornet’s testimony and an innovative use of graphics, the viewer will discover that the greatest adventures can sometimes be enjoyed at home.

Over 56 hours, Kilian completes an adventure of 168 kilometres with a vertical gain of 22,000 metres. The runner uses basic climbing and skiing equipment: a harness, a self-locking carabiner, ski poles, various ropes and an ice axe. His budget was €72 for water, food and energy bars. In other words, Kilian devoted €1 per hour to this great adventure. Even though the figures Kilian talks about seem to be from another planet, he explains: “There is no need to go far from home or spend a lot of money to enjoy a great experience. Sometimes it’s enough to put on your trainers, grab your rucksack, open your door and start running until you get tired. This is how we get to experience a great adventure, discovering our own surroundings, with the equipment that we have available”.

The journey, which took more than two days, and in which Kilian slept for just one and a half hours, has as one of its main attractions, Norway’s midnight sun. This is when, between April and August, the sun stays out for almost 24 hours a day. This creates paradoxical, surprising images where Kilian can be seen running at two in the morning, with sunlight projecting onto the rugged Scandinavian mountains.

Behind the Scenes: The Berghaus Dragon's Back Race - 33 minutes

The legendary Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race® follows the mountainous spine of Wales from north to south. This incredible 5-day journey is 315 kilometres long with 15,500 metres of ascent across wild, trackless, remote and

mountainous terrain. It is the toughest 5-day mountain race in the world.

Behind every great race is an even greater event team… this is their story. Follow the journey from their HQ in Kendal to Conwy Castle and onwards through Wales, as they venture to mountain peaks to place check points, move the event campsite through rural wales, and deal with incidents out on the course. Through all the highs and lows it’s the dedication, energy and passion of the event team that really brings the race to life, making it a truly memorable and special adventure for all involved.

Bob & Marion - 5 minutes

When Bob Luker decided to try his first distance run after turning forty, he got the running bug, and so did his wife Marion. Once they tried one, they couldn’t stop. Half a lifetime later, they’ve run more marathons and ultras than they can remember. Bob calculates he’s run the equivalent of twice round the world at the equator. “Christ! I’m 80 years old and I’m still out running. Beat that!”

Every Single Street - 18 minutes

In the same thread of his trans continental run across America and getting to know a very thin line of his own country, Rickey Gates decides to run every single street in San Francisco - to get to know a very small area of America, as well as its people, intimately. With over 1100 Miles of streets the film documents Rickey’s journey, and the people he meets long the way, as he runs into midst of one of the most iconic and diverse cities in the world.

The Running Pastor - 8 minutes

A story about Sverri Steinholm, a Faroese trail running pastor that explores the relationship of his spirituality both through his experiences in the outdoors and in a traditional “church” / community. Sverri is an avid runner — both on the roads and ‘in the fields’ as he says — who uses his time on the trails to work through not only his personal conflicts, but the conflicts of others he often is burdened to bear being the local Pastor who must keep everyone’s secrets.

Run the Line - 24 minutes

Beau Miles lives next to the old Warragul-Noojee Railway line, which snaked for 43km through the foothills of Mt. Baw Baw, and ran from 1892-1954. You can still see the line now as strange scars across paddocks and bold cuttings through the sides of hills. Overgrown, private, exposed, or hard to find, Beau aims to re-run the train line, picking up and finding the stations of yesteryear.