River: Bikefishing for Steelhead

Keen angler mountain-bikes to remote wilderness fishing spots.

Part of the “Short Films” screening.

FIVE MINUTES WITH DOMINIC GILL

ATFF:

Hello, not long now till this summer’s Adventure Travel Film Festival. We are so excited to be sharing so many fantastic films this year. Let’s start with a quick summary of yours, what’s it about?

Dominic:

River is the first part of a series, each of which will explore a different cyclists’ relationship with our world’s most precious resource: water. Fundamentally, the film is about the complexity of that relationship. Water enables us to fish, stay hydrated, and all sorts of things fit for postcards. But it’s also flooding, wet sleeping bags, and skidding tires on slick pavement.

River follows a journey from Canada to Mexico, wherein our protagonist, Brian, seeks to catch an elusive Steelhead on his fly rod. We think it will hook you (pun intended).

ATFF:

How did the film come about? Was it something that you’ve always been interested in?

Dominic:

I have been a long time friend and collaborator with blackburn designs, so when they asked me to help them make a film as part of a larger project documenting the water cycle and cyclists and outdoorsmen and women that interact with in it, I jumped at the chance.

ATFF:

This years films have spanned oceans mountains, glaciers… a huge range of environments. What challenges did you face in making yours?

Dominic:

One thing that you can never guarantee while making a film about fishing is that the fisherman will catch a fish! Added to that slight insecurity was the fact that in this case there was flooding up and down the West Coast of California. Many of the rivers had burst their banks, and those that had not we’re turbid  with silty water, making fishing completely impossible. In order to find a river that was at all fishable, we had to force Brian the protagonist to backtrack up to the Eel River much further north than the location he had reached on his adventure! Thankfully, he graciously agreed.

ATFF:

Is there anything that you would like audiences to take away from your film?

Dominic:

The slippery slope of  privatising land for commercial gain is very real. While it is easy to think that in this vast country [United States] there is enough land to log a bit here, and drill a bit there, very soon like dominoes the parks in the quiet places and the wilderness will begin to topple. It is up to us as stewards of the land to ensure that this doesn’t happen, and to ensure that our children and our children’s children have wild spaces to explore.

ATFF:

We have lots of people come to the festival who aspire to future filmmakers. Do you have any advice?

Dominic:

Making any film is a challenge. However, one of the largest pitfalls that many people fall into is the addiction to making beautiful pictures! While stunning imagery is an excellent addition to any story, it is the story that is the most important thing. Always!

ATFF:

Are you coming to this years festival? How can audiences find out more and connect with you?

Dominic:

We would welcome anyone that enjoys this film to connect not only with encompassfilms.com and the Encompass films Facebook page, but also the Blackburn designs website where the following chapters of the Water Cycle project will be available to see as time goes on. Chapter 2, Ocean, launches in July at www.blackburndesign.com/blog.

More films: