Too Inspiring?
3rd Aug 2017
Every so often I watch a film which is so amazing, so 'out there', that it almost has the opposite effect to the majority that I watch. I'm talking adventure films, and I'm referring to the fact that I draw inspiration from them. It would seem that I have quite a bit of energy. At least that's what folk tell me. I'm not great at sitting still and generally need to be planning the next trip or adventure. As part of my job I watch in the region of 300 adventure films each year whilst curating the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival. Generally speaking I find them inspiring, even those that don't make the cut. I watched one last night on the construction of a new footpath in a major city. It was effectively a tourist video encouraging people to visit the city. It wasn't good enough to screen at the festival, but it still inspired me to want to go there and check it out! Inspiration is a phrase that is used all too widely today, but I strongly believe that a good, regular dose of adventure films provides a top up of the stuff and makes my life all the richer for it. So it came as something of a surprise a few nights ago when I watched a film which had the opposite effect. It was a kayaking film called Into Twin Galaxies. It features Ben Stookesberry, one of my all time favourite adventurers. Ben's films are always pushing the envelope of what is possible in a kayak, and his narration voice is the polar opposite of Brian Blessed! I won't say much about the actual film as I don't want to spoil it. Suffice to say that it's one of the most visually AMAZING films I've yet seen, and what they were doing was off the scale NUTS. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the 52 minutes I sat there afterwards feeling very ordinary, very ordinary indeed. All being well we will screen it at ShAFF. I've no doubt it will be on at Kendal Mountain Festival in November. I for one can't wait to watch it on a big screen.