Wide Boyz wins at ShAFF

by Alan James - UKC and UKH Feb/2013
This news story has been read 4,355 times

WideBoyz has won the Best Climbing Film at this weekend's Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd March) with both the longer 48 minute British feature film and the shorter 13 minute American edit sharing the top prize. Andy Kirkpatrick's daughter Ella's film My Life: The Big Climb (Alleycat Films) scooped the Silver award with the Bronze going to Honnold 3.0.

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+Alex Ekins Wide Boyz, 75 kb
Tom Randall on Century Crack in Wide Boyz. Photo: Alex Ekins

Film Producer Paul Diffley said:  "I'm thrilled that the film has won an award in the home town of the Wide Boyz. I think it's great to know the some boys from the Peak can burn off the whole of America!"


ShAFF judge, 8 times British Climbing Champion, Lucy Creamer said:  "Both Wide Boyz edits had different ingredients that set them apart as separate films - it was very difficult to put one above the other.  I loved them both.  Both have fantastic climbing and great interviews with other interesting characters from the world of climbing.  Each has a very different feel and emphasis - the longer one has a much more British underdog feel, while the shorter version has a more American focus.  But at the end of the day you've got an incredible story about these two British guys who train really hard in their cellar and go to America and kick butt!"

BEST CLIMBING FILM

Best Climbing Film (Gold):  Wide Boyz (both long and short edits)

It's like ultimate fighting with a rock. The world of offwidth crack climbing is a strange sub-culture rumoured to be dominated by knuckle-dragging, bar-brawling dirt-bags! The climbing is tough, painful and bloody and there are hardly any routes in the UK.  Undeterred, two British climbers, Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall, complete a brutal two-year training regime (mostly spent hanging upside down in their Sheffield basement) before embarking on an audacious tour of the USA and a first ascent of the world's hardest off-width - Century Crack.
This top prize was shared by both the longer 48 minute British feature film (directed by Paul Diffley and Chris Alstrin), and the shorter 13 minute American edit (directed by Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen for Sender Films/BigUp Productions) which featured in the Reel Rock Tour.

Best Climbing Film (Silver): My Life: The Big Climb

13 year old Ella becomes the youngest ever girl to summit the big wall of Yosemite's El Capitan with her "smelly, snoring", dad, Sheffield climber Andy Kirkpatrick, in tow.  Imagine doing 1,000 pull-ups a day for four days without enough food or sleep. Director: Des Henderson (AlleyCat Films)

Best Climbing Film (Bronze): Honnold 3.0

When Alex Honnold made the first free solo of the 2,000ft Half Dome with no rope he became an overnight sensation.  Off the rock Alex is shy and self-effacing.  A fascinating portrait of how one of the world's most naturally talented climbers deals with the pressure of becoming a public commodity and the weight of expectation of constantly pushing the boundaries.Directed By: Peter Mortimer, Josh Lowell

The Sheffield Adventure film Festival takes place this weekend 1-3 March at the Showroom in Sheffield - more information


* Forums ( Read More... | 6 comments, 27 Feb 2013 )
WideBoyz is a great film! Well-deserved first prize. Not only a sweat-inducing climbing film with a crystal clear story line, but also funny, scary and visually inspiring. The climbers and the cast of interviewees...
full stottie - 26 Feb 2013

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