ShAFF 2021: Bike Films

PLEASE NOTE: The screening at 17:00 on Sat 10 Jul is an outdoor screening taking place at The Peace Gardens.

This Is Home 7 minutes

Many mountain bike athletes start their careers early, honing skills well before the first signs of adolescence. Then there’s Jackson Goldstone. The Squamish, B.C. youth shot to stardom in 2010 when a homemade video of him riding, jumping, dropping and spinning his balance bike on the way to kindergarten went viral. Since then, Jackson has risen to the top tiers of the sport, already demonstrating a signature style in mountain bike films and competing on the international stage, shoulder to shoulder with some of the best racers and freeriders in the world Talent has played a large part in Jackson’s extraordinary riding ability, but so has his hometown of Squamish. With one of the most densely packed trail networks on the planet right outside his door, Jackson can challenge himself in any mountain biking discipline he chooses, every day of the year. Whether whipping out jump lines with his friends or pinning long, rugged downhill descents to eclipse his personal record, Jackson always rides to have fun. He thinks you should, too.

1500 Miles 17 minutes

"This 1,500 mile journey was the biggest athletic feat I had ever attempted. I faced the same challenges any able-bodied athlete would – fatigue, pain, even fear. But doing it on a prosthesis built only for walking meant I was putting my health and mobility at risk. I had to ask myself: at what point should I give up on my goals to be a better athlete?" – Nicole Ver Kuilen Nicole started this project – known as “Forrest Stump” – as a 1,500 mile journey down the coast to bring awareness to the challenges amputees face. This film is an extension of Forrest Stump’s mission: we will show the limitations of prosthetics and encourage support for a greater standard of care. The only obstacle standing between Nicole and the completion of her 1,500 mile journey is her prosthetic. With the advances being made in prosthetics – this does not need to be the case. While the media highlights vast improvements in prosthetic technology, the “activity-specific” prosthetics are inaccessible to most amputees. Although Nicole has been an athlete her whole life and is categorized as a K4 amputee (the highest activity level), insurance denies requests for anything besides a walking leg and K3 foot.

My Last Day Of Summer 9 minutes

It is the last day of summer and Julia is at the local bike shop hoping that her bike can be fixed. While checking out the flashy displays of new bikes and shiny components, a comic book catches her eye. The comic explores a world which stylizes the sights and sounds she experiences on the trails. The comic captures her imagination and she soon finds herself on a ride like none other.

Badlands 2020 16 minutes

After a summer spent in the wild, EF Gone Racing’s alternative calendar is back with a familiar face and an all-new race - the Badlands. A 700km non-stop unsupported gravel race through the Sierra Nevada of southern Spain, the Badlands traverses some of Europe’s highest mountains and its only desert. In short, this a race reserved for the bold and the brave, and perfect for Lachlan Morton. After the last-minute cancellation of the Cape Epic mountain bike race in March, the endlessly adventurous Australian was eager for another off-road odyssey. All we had to do was try and keep up…

The Barefoot Mountain Biker: Casey Brown 13 minutes

Athletes like Casey Brown are a rarity in today’s sporting world. When she first got on a bike, it was about finding freedom, rather than with the expectation of succeeding in competitions. But succeed she has - twice crowned as Queen of Crankworx, and a Canadian national champion. This film is a celebration of an extraordinary athlete who’s lived an extraordinary life. We knew that the key to understanding Casey’s story was to highlight her unconventional childhood. Casey grew up in Barn Bay, on the west coast of the South Island, miles from the nearest town. The family lived in a house built by Casey's father Lou, foraged for food and generated their own electricity. This spirit of self-sufficiency, implanted at such a young age was key in shaping the person, and rider, Casey is today - never shrinking from a challenge or letting doubts get in her way. The second crucial aspect of her story was the tragic death of her older brother Sam in 2005, who was found dead in a jail cell after being arrested for smuggling drugs between Canada and the US. Sam was a remarkable mountain biker in his own right and Casey idolised her brother, following him into the mountains and through his intricate home-made trails. For Casey, Sam’s death led to two things: a realisation that life is short and can be snatched away in an instance and secondly, that by continuing to ride she would be able to both grieve and celebrate her brother at the same time. Her dedication to keeping Sam’s legacy alive is clear through her sense of adventure and ambition to always live in the moment. Watching Casey compete, you can see the culmination of her life experiences. She’s committed, connected, creative. And free.

Thursday Fields 20 minutes

Horace Burrowes runs a regular Thursday night bicycle race at a defunct airport in Brooklyn. The old runways are crumbling. The only prizes are bragging rights and petty cash. The riders are from every walk of life, and from countries all over the globe. And yet Horace manages to hold everything together through love of the sport and force of personality.
Thursday Fields is a portrait of a strikingly diverse subculture, and a look into the melting pot that is New York City.

James Golding: The Man Who Refuses To Die 17 minutes

James Golding shouldn’t still be here. At 28, doctors found a huge cancerous tumour in his back. They operated, he survived. A year later, he was hit by a truck at 70mph. He went back to hospital. And then, his cancer returned. Once again, he underwent surgery, and was given the all clear. And so when people tell James he’s unlucky, he knows they’re wrong. In fact, everything he’s experienced has made him the man he is today - a long-distance cyclist, capable of enduring the most intense races in the world. This film captures James as he takes on Race Across the West (RAW) - a 930-mile course, which he needs to complete in under four days. But it’s about more than just a man hoping to win a race. It’s about survival and sacrifice and how we learn what’s important in life. James always wanted to live a life less ordinary. Feeling like he never fitted in at school, he left aged just 14, and went on to find success as an estate agent, buying his own house in his early 20s. But when he was diagnosed with cancer, everything changed. Lying in his hospital bed, knowing he had to relearn to walk, James realised that all the materialistic things he had coveted before, no longer mattered. Instead, he thought back to when he last felt free and at ease - it was as a child, on his bike. And so, he threw himself into the sport, training hard and aiming high. He overcame his collision with the lorry and another round of surgery. He broke the seven-day cycling world record. He moved his entire family to Portugal in order to be able to train more regularly and in more suitable terrain. James had his sights on one thing - to become the first Briton to complete Race Across America (RAAM), one of the most respected and longest running ultra-endurance events in the world. But to qualify, he had to first complete RAW. This film captures the highs, and the very deep lows, that James endured as he raced across the desert. The heat, sleep deprivation, hallucinations - James experienced it all. But it’s not the first time he’s suffered - everything he’s been through in life led to this point. And James does not give up.