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An interview with director Louie Psihoyos

The truths discovered in documentary films often reveal far more than meet the eye. In his Oscar winning movie “the Cove” photojournalist Louie Psihoyos takes us on an adventure that perhaps shows us more than we want to see.

“I lead an elite team of activists to penetrate a secret cove in Japan to reveal a dark secret,” Psihoyos said.

The Cove, part action thriller, part nature film is the exciting story behind a covert operation to document one of the most horrific atrocities of the 21^st century, the systematic slaughter of dolphins.

“They kill more dolphins than anywhere on the planet right there at this cove, which incidentally is in a Japanese national park, a marine sanctuary,” Psihoyos said. That’s the irony of this whole thing. But it’s also the scene of the captive dolphin trade. Most of the captive dolphins in the world come from this little cove.” Read the rest of this entry »

This film by Julie Gautier from Bluenery Productions puts free diving in the same adventure category as BASE jumping. Nothing before filmed under water gives you the same thrill as Steph Davis soaring through the air in wingsuit or Andy Lewis hurling himself off a bridge. Shot in 4 minutes 18 seconds you’ll hold your breath right along with free diver Guillaume Nery as he descends 663 feet to touch the bottom of Dean’s Blue Hole, the world’s second deepest underwater sinkhole in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas.

Gautier describes this feat as underwater BASE Jumping. But since this environment is neither a bridge, antennae, span nor earth we’re going to need another letter. Read the rest of this entry »

The documentary film “Tapped” is a glaring indictment of the bottled water industry. Directed by Stephanie Soechtig this expansive look into the commercial acquisition, production and distribution of the Earth’s most precious natural resource, fresh drinking water, is a horrifying tale of abuse and corruption. The story spans the socio-political landscape from small municipalities to multi-national corporations across the globe. But at its heart the film speaks to the personal responsibility each of us must assume in the perpetuation of a product that we freely purchase as its consumption and improper disposal is slowly killing us.

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It says in the Talmud, the sacred text of Jewish law, “Save one life and you save world.” Dr. Rick Hodes has saved dozens of lives and his continuing work in service of the children has made the world a better place for us all.

A pediatric oncologist who specializes in the treatment of heart disease, spine disease and cancer, Dr. Hodes compassionately practices medicine at Mother Theresa’s Mission in Ethiopia. Caring for sick and destitute children in one of the most impoverished regions of the world he’s also the subject of a new book and a film for HBO called “Making the Crooked Straight.” Read the rest of this entry »

photo by Dominic Gill

Adventure filmmaker Dominic Gill is making more movies from his cutting room floor. As his award-winning bicycle travel pic “Take a Seat” is on world tour with the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Dom is creating a series of shorts based on the non-cycling portions of his 20,000-mile tandem trek from Alaska to Argentina.

In this first installment called Rich Mountain the biking Britain pulls over in Bolivia long enough to tour one of the infamous Potosi silver mines. Here, since the time of the Inca, more than 8 million people have died over the past 500 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Washington State prison inmates pay their debt to society by helping to create a sustainable environment. A new film produced by Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele illustrates an initiative that teaches the incarcerated science and common practices for life upon their release in a better world. Read the rest of this entry »

A few days before his disappearance while on expedition in China, climber and filmmaker Jonny Copp wrote a poem he called Border Country. Rich with vivid imagery of a headlong journey into an uncertain future the lyric may well have foreshadowed the tragic avalanche that claimed his life and those of friends Micah Dash and Wade Johnson.

A new film of the same title produced by multi-media artist and fellow climber Jeremy Collins pays tribute to his fallen comrades in a style well suited to the way in which they lived their lives. Border Country draws upon the complete spectrum of audio/visual tools to excellent affect coupled with the skilled application of mountaineering technique. With Collins’ handcrafted illustrations and music by Brad Barr, Oriole Post and Rue Royale the film is a requiem that doesn’t memorialize so much as celebrate those who live to climb.

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From the outset writer, mountain guide and now filmmaker Majka Burhardt admits she could have found a better place to climb. In her new movie “Waypoint Namibia” she went looking for an experience that goes beyond climbing for climbing’s sake.

“I have a theory these days that you can make adventure additive,” says Burhardt as the film opens “You can go beyond pure physical adventure and get cultural understanding out of it.”

Much of adventure over the last century has held a very tight focus on singular objectives. Summit bids to claim a first ascent of high mountain peaks most often take clear precedent over building relationships with the local population. Though on many expeditions adventurers limit their contact with native people to hiring cooks and porters Burhardt and her small team literally went out of their way to engage those they met and learn something about their civilization.

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This visually graceful film is a short depiction of grounded flight. Yogaslacker Adi Carter demonstrates the poses that can be achieved using the new eLine from Trango. This low-stretch slackline offers a quick and easy setup for creating a yoga flow station that’s kind on trees and reduces wear on anchors. Slackasana may well be a up and coming form of practice for climbers and yogies alike.

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This poignant short film by Sean Mullens is a portrait of humanity’s struggle toward our inherent excellence. One man’s daily challenge to overcome his disability and indulge a desire for ecstatic play models for the rest of us the joy that can be achieved in perseverance.

“You can transcend,” the film’s star Michael says. “You can get to a place where you’re sort of free, to be able to dance, to be able to be fluid, to be able to be so in the moment, to just be natural…to be what you were meant to be.” Read the rest of this entry »