Another new addition to the Vimeo awards, the action sports category features video that uses filmmaking to creatively showcase action sports. The 4 finalists give us a mix of heart in the mouth action, sports in unexpected places viewed from alternative vantage points and lots and lots of passion.
ON ASSIGNMENT BY CAMP 4 COLLECTIVE
Directors Renan Ozturk and Jimmy Chin provide an insight into what went into Chin’s working process over the 60 days he was on assignment for a National Geographic cover story to capture the majesty of Yosemite climbing. As a fellow climber, Chin is part of the climbing community and so was able to get some amazing shots of his friends as they braved the heights of the mountains.
SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL BY GRAIN MEDIA
Orlando Von Einsidedel’s documentary about the world’s first co-educational skateboarding school in Afghanistan has been lorded on DN a couple times already – firstly in Danni’s coverage of UnderWire’s 2010 Representation category and again when I took a look at the film as part of our Rushes Soho Shorts 2011 coverage. As I said then, ‘Skateistan hits all the right notes of a great documentary, taking something I felt very familiar with (skateboarding), placing it in a new, unfamiliar context (Kabul, Afghanistan), to reveal truths which aren’t immediately apparent.
EXPERIENCE FREEDOM BY INFINITYLIST
When you have footage that’s exhilaratingly breathtaking and heartstoppingly terrifying in equal measures sometimes its best to just get out of the way and let the images do their thing. That’s what Infinitylist do, leaving us free to fall, spin, glide and soar with their featured skydiving, base jumping and wingsuited athletes. It also has to be one of the best inadvertent GoPro ads ever created.
DARK SIDE OF THE LENS BY ASTRAY FILMS
Another film we’ve featured on DN in the past, Mickey Smith’s ‘poetic meditation on wave riding‘ is a beautifully brooding piece which captures the alluring nature of the sea and the power it has over those who place themselves in its hands.
