Relentless Energy have been running an invitational film competition called Short Stories. There are four parts: surf, bmx, snowboarding and skateboarding. Each element has one film entry; the snowboarding film is produced by the Finnish filmmaker, Johannes Ostergrad, and is based around a portrait of Jenny Jones – arguably the UKs most successful shredder. Here’s an extract from one of their press releases:
Permanent Vocation is a beautifully shot, personal portrait of Britain’s most successful snowboarder. From her first turns on dryslope near her hometown of Bristol, England, to making the seasonaires’ pilgrimage to the French Alps as a chalet girl in Tignes, Jones’ innate ability, focus, drive and passion is captured in the film; that same determination and positivity saw her landing front flips on her first winter – and won the first British Championships she entered.
“I wanted something with a straight forward storyline,” explains Östergård. “Jenny sent me a stream of consciousness text on her snowboard-life so far – I liked it and that became the backbone of the film.”
Check out these videos too on their YouTube channel:
- Surf – Mickey Smith: Dark Side Of The Lens
- BMX – Matty Lambert: Transatlanticism
- Skate – Flight of Passage: Ben Nordberg and Steve Mason
With all four entries submitted, they’re supposed to be screened around now, in early December, with an announcement of the winner. I’ve checked on the Relentless site, but haven’t found any news yet…
I really like the way it’s put together, it’s a good angle, and pretty inspiring too. Of the others, my favourite is probably the skateboarding one, I just like the simplicity of how the occasional tricks are filmed. That said, there are some amazing shots in the surfing video. I’m obviously biased, but I hope the Jenny Jones film wins 😉
I’d be interested to know how many readers from outside the UK ‘know’ about Jenny Jones. Given her success I’d imagine that anyone who follows women’s snowboarding will know of Jenny Jones; but how much do you know about her, about her background? Did you see her shred in the Chunkyknit films? Drop a comment if you’ve got a view on that. Also, let me know what you think of the videos too.