EOFT 11/12

Trailer

Baffin Babes

"We are not like those guys, who just want to be all cool. With ice and beard and all..we just like to be outdoors!" , Emma Simonsson says, as if one needs to have a beard in order to be tough.

The Baffin Babes definitely prove the opposite. If there is still anyone that doesn‘t believe four women can go without a toilet and shower for 80 days, they’ll be proven otherwise seeing the expedition-docu Baffin Babes.

The two Swedish sisters Vera and Emma Simonsson and their Norwegian friends Ingebjørg Tollefsen und Kristin Folsland Olsen have done exactly that – without batting an eye! – and at the same time they managed their longest ski tour ever: 1200 km across the arctic pack-ice along the Canadian Baffin Island. Not exactly a stroll in the park considering the 100 kilos on the pulka, temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius below zero and polar bears within sight.

Film information

Length: 20 min
Direction: Baffin Babes
With: Vera & Emma Simonsson, Ingebjoerg Tollefsen, Kristin Folsland Olsen
Production: Catapult Film, Canada, Norwegen, 2010

Being There

Powderturns with ocean view: you can get that only in Fjord Norway and on the Lofoten Islands – and this is a very special experience even for the best freeskiers in the world!

When looking at the Norwegian mountains, one is not surprised anymore that Norwegians have invented skiing. The best freeriders in the world, among them Henrik Windstedt und Aksel Lund Svindal, meet here, at this place, where the Fjords are reaching far into the country and where the sun does not go down during the summer.

For the first time ever, a film team was allowed to shoot here in the Norwegian back country and the Lofoten Islands – which is a special highlight even for the most experienced freeriders since the ocean is within sight!

Film information

Length: 8 min (EOFT edit)
Direction: Filip Christensen
With: Aksel Lund Svindal, Tom Wallisch, Henrik Windstedt, Jesper Tjader, Jon Olsson
Production: Field Productions, Norwegen, Schweden, Japan, 2011

Cold

At 40 degrees Celsius below zero, snow gathers inside the tent and not even the warmest down sleeping bag does the job of keeping one warm. At a height of over 7000 meters, it is simply freezing cold. One must admit that this is quite a unique trio that has set out to climb the GasherbrumII (8034m) for the first time in winter.

Simone Moro and Denis Urubko seem to handle the extreme temperature and the physical exertion better than Cory Richards, who, at the same time, also films the expedition. Richards seems to slightly regret his decision to come along with each further altitude meter. With the cold getting more and more unbearable, Cory’s self-doubt becomes stronger and stronger. But turning around is no option. Not without a summit victory. And not even that is a guarantee for a successful ending of this adventure: the way down is always more dangerous than the way up.

Film information

Length: 18 min
Direction: Anson Fogel
With: Simone Moro, Denis Urubko, Cory Richards
Production: Forge Motion Pictures, USA, Pakistan, 2011

Dark Side Of The Lens

Being able to surf a wave is one thing. Being able to film it is something completely different, especially when you are in the water yourself while filming.

The bigger the wave, the more spectacular the images – but how does such footage come about? In Dark Side of the Lense, the cameraman and photographer Mickey Smith lets us see the world through his eyes. He has chosen his profession carefully since he cannot imagine anything nicer than paddling-out in the cold water, observing surfers and pressing the shutter button at the right moment. His favorite spot for filming and taking pictures is in the rough sea off the Irish coast. He loves playing with the elements, the solitude and the feeling of living the moment and he is sure to be richer than most others because of that – even if not in a material sense.

Film information

Length: 6 min
Direction: Mickey Smith
With: Mickey Smith
Production: Astray Films, Irland, 2011

Kadoma

"No matter what happens: Don't panic!" (Hendri Coetzee)

There are special kayak expeditions, there are dangerous ones – and there are especially dangerous ones. The Congo-expedition Hendri Coetzee, Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesbury undertake definitely falls into the last category.

The Congo is something like the "holy grail" among kayak expeditions. The muddy stream winds through Central Africa for 4.300 km and it is not only the raging rapids one has to be afraid of. The shallow riverbanks are full of hippos and crocodiles and, apart from that, the military is omnipresent in the country battered by poverty and corruption.

The South African Hendri Coetzee is the only one who can assess all the dangerous aspects of this expedition. Together with him, Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic set out on their journey to the black heart of Africa. In the middle of the river, however, the expedition takes a dramatic turn.

Film information

Length: 20 min
Direction: Ben Stookesberry
With: Hendri Coetzee, Chris Korbulic, Ben Stookesberry
Production: Ben Stookesberry, Congo, USA, 2010

Life Cycles

Life Cycles is no ordinary mountain-bike movie since Life Cycles is not starring the mountain biker but instead the bicycle itself.

The movie tells the bike’s story: from the manufacturing all the way to its scrapping – and all the ups and downs in between. For seven years, Derek Frankowski and Ryan Gibb have worked on their masterpiece; with a lot of passion, a lot of love for detail and mostly a lot of patience. "Spend time not money" – was their motto and the movie shows clearly that they stuck to that principle. The bicycle is considered to be the greatest invention of mankind.

Life Cycles sets an impressive monument through movement and very aesthetical images. This movie cannot be described in words – one has to watch it.

Film information

Length: 12 min (EOFT edit)
Direction: Derek Frankowski, Ryan Gibb
With: Graham Agassiz, Mike Hopkins, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Riley McIntosh, Evan Schwartz, Brandon Semenuk, Thomas Vanderham
Production: Stance Films, Canada, 2010

Outside the Box

Anna Stöhr is a master at keeping calm during a competition and not for nothing, she has been the world champion in bouldering since July 17, 2011. Yet Juliane Wurm, in third-place this year, won’t go down easily.

What happens when two of the most experienced boulderers try out crack climbing in Utah, for the first time? The two women do not have to set foot on unknown terrain all by themselves. In the US, they are meeting up with Lynn Hill, who, in the 80ies, was one of the best female competitive climbers in the world and who is now supposed to introduce Anna and Juliane to this new climbing technique at Castleton Tower in Utah.

Film information

Length: 20 min
Direction: Stefanie Brockhaus
With: Lynn Hill, Anna Stöhr, Juliane Wurm
Production: Moving Adventures Medien, USA, Germany, 2011

The Art of Flight

Travis Rice can fly without wings. All he needs is his snowboard, a run and a kicker. With this equipment taking off is quite easy. In The art of Flight Travis Rice, John Jackson and Mark Landvik prove that even snowboarding is an art form. In front of the gigantic mountain range of Alaska the three snowboarders add some new tricks to their repertoire.

Film information

Length: 8 min
Direction: Curt Morgan
With: Travis Rice, John Jackson, Mark Landvik
Production: Brain Farm Digital Cinema, Red Bull Media House, USA, 2011

The Majestic Plastic Bag

A plastic bag is one of the most resistant objects on our planet. It is almost indestructible, it can fly like a bird and swim like a fish. And if we let it, will develop an astonishing life of its own. The Majestic Plastic Bag shows what can happen after it has served its purpose as a carrying device. The bag makes its way to its actual destination: the big trash swirl in the Pacific Ocean – and no garbage collection can stop it from doing so.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The biggest dump of the planet is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 3 million tons of plastic is floating around in one area which is approximately four times the size of Germany. Plastic is non - biodegradable but instead breaks into ever smaller pieces due to the effect of sunlight and friction. In the meantime, there are 64 times more plastic parts than plankton swimming in the Pacific trash swirl. So it is no wonder that fish confuse the trash with their natural food. This is an issue that concerns us all since this plastic will eventually end up on our plates due to the natural food chain.

Film information

Length: 4 min
Direction: Jeremy Konner
With: The Plastic Bag
Production: Heal the Bay, USA, 2011

This Must Be The One

Tailwind and six inches water under the keel – this is all a sailor needs in order to be happy. A highliner also enjoys the wind in his hair but he only gets a kick out of it when he feels a lot of air between him and the ground. The more dizzying the spot, the better!

This is why Sebastién Brugalla and his team decided to put up their highline between the 4000 m high Aiguilles du Diable at the Mont-Blanc massif. It can barely get more extreme than that. But who says that one necessarily needs to go to the mountains for highlining if there are such beautiful skyscrapers in the middle of Paris? The two office towers of the Les Mercuriales are only 120 m high but that is compensated by a large crowd that is watching in amazement.

For the highliner , it doesn’t really make a big difference. He only aks himself whether the view over the roofs of Paris can really compete with the mountain panorama of the Mont Blanc.

Film information

Length: 8 min
Direction: Sébastien Montaz
With: Jelena Schradi, Damien Mercier, Antoine Moineville, Sébastian Brugalla, Julien Millot
Production: Sébastien Montaz, France, 2011