X-Dance celebrates both sides of action sports filmmaking
SALT LAKE CITY — Climbing and skiing Alaska's Mount St. Elias. Surfing an Indian Ocean reef. Traveling through the outback of New Zealand.
For some of the world's top extreme sports athletes, it's all in a day's work and play. But without filmmakers following them, their stories would never be seen or told to a wide audience.
Thursday in Salt Lake City, the annual X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival kicked off its annual six-day run, celebrating the achievements of both the athletes and action sports filmmakers.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of X-Dance, one of several "dances" held at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival.
"We never thought we would have gotten to this point. It was a unique idea for the industry, but it was so accepted and everyone was so excited about it, it just exploded," said festival director Brian Wimmer.
The festival has grown by 25 percent each year. This year, 40 films were chosen from a list of 130 entries. This year's highlights include "an incredibly soulful" film featuring surfing legend Rob Machado in "The Drifter," Wimmer said. Also a film called "Mount St. Elias," which he called "one of the most beautiful cinematic movies we've ever had."The action sports festival is not about showing movies with the craziest tricks or worst wipeouts, he said, but rather to show something that even nonsports fans will be interested in seeing.
"It's about telling stories. That's something we've pushed forever because we want to get away from what we call the 'action porn.' We want to get into the heart and soul of the athlete," Wimmer said. "We want to keep our core values but be able to deliver it to the mass market. We're not in the business of making snuff films. We're into the art and athleticism behind it."
Extreme sports, whether it be skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, mountain climbing, sky diving or kayaking, has always been about freedom of expression, he said. Although it's fun to watch, it's not just about competitions like the X Games and the Dew Tour.
"The whole competition thing is a way for the rest of the world to put butts in seats and qualify and quantify its existence. 'Well if you have butts in seats, it's happening.' No. It's been happening for 100 years in the back mountains of Utah. Now we have a stadium and suddenly we exist because you're watching us? That really kind of goes against the grain of what action sports is about," he said.
Wimmer noted it had been a "brutal year" for action sports injuries, especially in snowboarding. Olympic snowboard hopeful Danny Davis and Kevin Pearce each suffered serious injuries in recent weeks. Davis' injury was unrelated to snowboarding.
But Wimmer said there is obviously the potential for danger in any extreme sport, which is why his company is working with the Athlete Recovery Fund, providing support to athletes and their families when an athlete suffers a severe injury.
Also during X-Dance, the "godfather of all action film sports making," Warren Miller, will be given a lifetime achievement award in addition to being one of the judges for this year's movies.
"He was really good at capturing the soul and spirit of the sport," Wimmer said. "He's really the guy who started the whole process."
In addition, the annual lifetime achievement award will be renamed after Miller. Miller, 85, made more than 750 action sport films during his 60 years of filmmaking.
Also scheduled to appear during the festival's run are top name athletes such as Machado and Olympic snowboard hero Shaun White.
For some of the world's top extreme sports athletes, it's all in a day's work and play. But without filmmakers following them, their stories would never be seen or told to a wide audience.
Thursday in Salt Lake City, the annual X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival kicked off its annual six-day run, celebrating the achievements of both the athletes and action sports filmmakers.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of X-Dance, one of several "dances" held at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival.
"We never thought we would have gotten to this point. It was a unique idea for the industry, but it was so accepted and everyone was so excited about it, it just exploded," said festival director Brian Wimmer.
The festival has grown by 25 percent each year. This year, 40 films were chosen from a list of 130 entries. This year's highlights include "an incredibly soulful" film featuring surfing legend Rob Machado in "The Drifter," Wimmer said. Also a film called "Mount St. Elias," which he called "one of the most beautiful cinematic movies we've ever had."The action sports festival is not about showing movies with the craziest tricks or worst wipeouts, he said, but rather to show something that even nonsports fans will be interested in seeing.
"It's about telling stories. That's something we've pushed forever because we want to get away from what we call the 'action porn.' We want to get into the heart and soul of the athlete," Wimmer said. "We want to keep our core values but be able to deliver it to the mass market. We're not in the business of making snuff films. We're into the art and athleticism behind it."
Extreme sports, whether it be skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, mountain climbing, sky diving or kayaking, has always been about freedom of expression, he said. Although it's fun to watch, it's not just about competitions like the X Games and the Dew Tour.
"The whole competition thing is a way for the rest of the world to put butts in seats and qualify and quantify its existence. 'Well if you have butts in seats, it's happening.' No. It's been happening for 100 years in the back mountains of Utah. Now we have a stadium and suddenly we exist because you're watching us? That really kind of goes against the grain of what action sports is about," he said.
Wimmer noted it had been a "brutal year" for action sports injuries, especially in snowboarding. Olympic snowboard hopeful Danny Davis and Kevin Pearce each suffered serious injuries in recent weeks. Davis' injury was unrelated to snowboarding.
But Wimmer said there is obviously the potential for danger in any extreme sport, which is why his company is working with the Athlete Recovery Fund, providing support to athletes and their families when an athlete suffers a severe injury.
Also during X-Dance, the "godfather of all action film sports making," Warren Miller, will be given a lifetime achievement award in addition to being one of the judges for this year's movies.
"He was really good at capturing the soul and spirit of the sport," Wimmer said. "He's really the guy who started the whole process."
In addition, the annual lifetime achievement award will be renamed after Miller. Miller, 85, made more than 750 action sport films during his 60 years of filmmaking.
Also scheduled to appear during the festival's run are top name athletes such as Machado and Olympic snowboard hero Shaun White.
e-mail: preavy@desnews.com
salt lake city climbing
ReplyDeleteChris & Kevin are brothers from Tucson, AZ who moved to SLC for the outdoor scene. After many years of enjoying the Wasatch as their backyard playground, the countless granite routes and powder days continue to challenge and inspire them. For them, the only thing better than adventuring in the mountains is doing so with friends, both old and new alike.