EOFT 07/08

The documentary Coast to Coast describes the extraordinary journey of the two pilots Mike Blyth and Olivier Aubert across South Africa. Their route leads them from the Indian Ocean at the coast of Mozambique to the Atlantic Skeleton Coast in Namibia in two ultra light planes. Due to the very personal narration of the film and the spectacular flying shots the audience experiences first hand the fascination of flying as well as the unique landscape and animal life of Southern Africa.

Classic Climbing is quite a back number. Antoine Seguin’s Dist Urban Behaviour presents the new trend sport Urban Climbing: Unsecured facade climbing on skyscrapers and highway bridges in Montreal. The movie is accompanied with unique sounds from the American underground electronic music scene.

Kayak legend Olaf Obsommer is an old friend of the E.O.F.T. as well. In his new film Indus Descent we experience him and his team kayaking on the Indus River in Pakistan in April 2007. The big aim of this expedition is to first kayak through the Ronda Canyon –one of the last big challenges in white water kayaking. The group made it further than any previous expedition but gigantic masses of white water in highest levels of difficulty forced the team to give up. Characteristic for Obsommer’s latest work are outstanding kayak shots at the snow-covered summits of the Karakarom.

This is probably the most exceptional movie of the E.O.F.T. 07/08. In summer 2006 the ideal racing line of the World Cup ski run at the Lauberhorn was traced with wooden slats under the direction of the Swiss artist Daniel Zimmermann. This racing line was paced off by meter with a special camera from the downhill racer’s point of view. Altogether 5 hours of shooting material have been cut down to an absolute minimum time of 2 minutes, 23 seconds and 75 hundredths. Live commentaries from the original World Cup race in 2006 have been added to the film and present the descent in unbelievable and thrilling intensity.

The Austrian rock climber David Lama is an exceptional talent: he won the Boulder European Championship 2007 and multiple Youth World Championships in sports climbing. He is an good friend of the European Outdoor Film Tour, whose 04/05 edition introduced him to a bigger audience for the first time in the documentary "Generation L – David Lama", presenting David’s enormous talent.

In spring 2007 Lama and a group of upcoming climbing-rock-stars travelled to Northern Malaysia and discovered an untouched climbing paradise. The group achieved over 20 first ascents at fascinating rock formations. Featuring impressive shots, the movie shows climbing at the highest severity in the luscious exotic scenery. Unlike most climbing movies, this film focusses on the fun and youthful vibe of climbing. Besides Lama, the international junior elite of climbing is represented by Katharina Sauerwein, Christina Schmid, Juliane Wurm and Cedric Lachat.

Norwegian André Bach is considered one of the pioneers of the international B.A.S.E. jumping scene, but he started out as most of them do - as a reckless young man who had only one focus: B.A.S.E. jumping.

Meanwhile his passion now is more than just a crazy hobby – it has become a mission and profession. André Bach shows that recklessness and responsible behavior do not necessarily exclude one another. In Portrait of a Serial Jumper Bach describes how his recklessness has changed without losing his passion. He moved from Oslo to the country and his new role as a husband and father has strongly affected the once so easygoing extreme athlete. Now precaution is his constant companion during his projects.

This powerful portrait shows the fascinating facettes of a contradictory yet inspiring character.

No doubt: Respect is the most fascinating ski film of the season. Inimitable deep snow shots and spectacular jumps at partly undiscovered locations in combination with an intoxicating soundtrack intensifies the expectations of the upcoming skiing season. North America’s best free skiers show to what extent the skiing sport has developed.

Austrian Christian Stangl is the new star of the international extreme mountaineering scene. His special discipline: Sky running – climbing mountains as fast as possible and without any technical assistance like oxygen or stored supplies. To achieve his goals, Stangl uses unusual workout methods: his main workout consists of pulling a giant tractor tire up the mountain.

His current aim is the ascent of all Seven Summits (the highest mountains of all continents) in a new minimum record time. After unbelievable records at Mount Everest and Aconcagua Stangl ventures an expedition to the 4.884 meter high Carstensz Pyramid in West Papua in March 2007. The Carstensz Pyramid is the highest mountain of Australia and Oceania. Stangl took part in an expedition through the rain forest to the base camp. Most mountaineers spare out on this exhausting trip and take the helicopter. Christian crosses the "green hell" of Papua under extremely difficult climatic and logistic conditions. Despite of the exhausting march he sets up an unbelievable new record time of 49 minutes at the ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid.

In North America a new major trend has developed in the mountain biking scene in the last couple of years: downhill trials. Trials are downhill tracks with a multitude of jumps and obstacles. Canadian Ryan Leech’s goal is to create the most difficult trial in North America in the mountains of BritishColumbia.

Trail & Error shows Leech attempt of being the first biker to meet the challenge of a sheer impregnable track. The movie shows unique shots of body control and artistry.