Kayaking and Creativity: Still Evolving

It's not easy to make a compelling film about climbing or skiing, but of all the adventure pursuits producing high-quality films about kayaking may be the hardest. The sport itself is inherently challenging to film, and the shooting locations are often remote waterways with few stable platforms upon which to place a camera. Go-Pro helmet cameras have certainly helped give audiences a closer look at what is happening on the water, but kayak films are still evolving.

One of the keys to any good documentary is to find an actual story to tell (as opposed to a personal profile), and one of the best efforts we’ve seen in that direction is Kadoma, which premiered at Mountainfilm in Telluride 2011 and tells the story of an ill-fated kayaking trip down the Congo. The director of that film — Ben Stookesbury — has continued on his adventures, recently scoring a first descent of the Marble Fork of the Kaeweah River in Sierra National Park.

Another team that is trying their dardest to show kayaking in a new way is Forge Motion Pictures, which premiered part of their new series called Of Souls + Water at Mountainfilm 2012 and has a new piece in it called The Shapeshifter.

Check these kayak stories out, and let us know if you have any other suggestions of adventure films we should watch at Mountainfilm.