EMFF 2012 - Sunday Afternoon

THE FILMS

WHY

This beautifully-shot film by Corey Rich was one of my favourite short films that I have seen this year. It features climber Alex Honnold, kayaker Dane Jackson and biker Rebecca Rusch talking about why they continue to push the boundaries and do what they love the most. A brilliant short film.

DOUGIE DOWN THE PET

This film follows the journey of a father taking his 4-year-old son on a canoe trip down the Petawawa river in Canada. Dougie is certainly the star of the show and the film is full of cute and funny moments - certainly a feel-good film.

IN SEARCH OF SNOW - HELEN RENNIE'S STORY
This rather short film tells the brief story of Helen Rennie's quest to ski on snow for 25 consecutive months. A truly amazing achievement... if not a tat mental!

OF WET AND WILDNESS
Another chance to see this fine artistic piece from Paul Diffley.

FEEL THE HILL
The longest film of the day followed a group of French long boarders and their pursuit of bigger, faster hills and pushing the limits of what you can do with a skateboard. A very nice piece indeed. 

THE LECTURE

SIMON WILLIS - THE ACCIDENTAL SEA KAYAKER

I didn't know much about Simon Willis but I had read that he was the author of the Scottish Sea Kayak Trail guidebook so I was quite interested to hear about his tails from the Western Isles. Emily and I have visited many of the Western Isles of Scotland but we still have many to explore and I've always fancied a sea kayaking trip around some of them. Unfortunately, Simon's main focus of his lecture was talking about how he and Gordon Brown had made their instructional sea kayaking films. I felt that this lasted a little too long and may not have suited the audience that was present. However, he finished with some amazing tales, pictures and footage of a trip he made to St. Kilda a few years ago that was very inspiring - the highlight for me.

Reel Rock Film Tour, Dunfermline

Tonight, Emily and I headed to Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline for the 2012 Reel Rock Film Tour. The event was great value for money and seemed to be well supported. The lineup of films was extremely strong, as you can see below.

THE FILMS

THE DURA DURA

This film follows the battle between Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma to climb the world's first 5.15c near Sharma's Spanish home. The film is very funny and has a very interesting comparison between the two athletes - both with very contrasting styles of climbing. The film hypes it up as a bit of a battle, but in reality I think they have a very sound friendship and both have the simple desire to see the other succeed. Very entertaining and well worth a watch.

THE SHARK'S FIN

A very moving film that tells a great story of a team's second attempt to climb Mt. Meru. Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk return and succeed in conquering the iconic Indian peak. The feat is all the more remarkable due to Renan's serious skiing accident only a few months before the attempt. Anker's will-power and character really come through in this fantastic short film.

WIDE BOYS

A short film that follows Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker and their quest to climb the world's hardest off-width: Century Crack. It's a very inspiring story and features some amazing footage of the lads training in Tom's basement. There are also some amusing american characters, as the film also features some of the tough off-width climbers across the Atlantic. My favourite film of the night and I can't wait to see the full-length version.

HONNOLD 3.0

This guy is even more crazy than when I saw him last in: Alone on the Wall. This time he attempts to climb all three Yosemite's big walls: Mt. Watkins, El Cap, and Half Dome... in under 19 hours... free solo! Ridiculous - but he pulls it off and makes it look very easy... even at night with a headtorch! The film also features Alex attempting a VERY highball boulder problem. A must see film, even if you're not into climbing.

A great evening that was well supported and excellent value for money - highly recommended!