Following the success of its world premiere during the Cape Town leg of the Banff
Mountain Film World Tour in October, the short documentary Travailen
premieres at the festival’s home in Alberta Canada. The Banff Mountain Film and
Book Festival runs from 1 to 9 November and honours adventure, excitement, and
inspirational mountain stories.
Travailen, produced by The African Attachment, follows the story of
Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel’s 2014 attempt of the 200km Drakensberg Grand
Traverse – an unmarked route set across some of South Africa’s wildest mountain
terrain. The film is directed by Sandes’ childhood friend Dean Leslie, shot by Kelvin
Trautman and produced by Hannah Slezacek.
Leslie describes the experience: “Adventures like this are often overly romanticised
on screen and on paper but the reality of it, of the attempt, specifically for Ryan
and Ryno was very different. The only certainty was struggle. I wanted to try and
play with this, juxtaposing these two “realities’ against each other. To be part of
something like this and to have the privilege of documenting adventures and
pursuits in wild places is incredibly rewarding.’
Pre-production on the film spanned over six months, as the production team needed
to plan how best to tackle the environmental challenges involved. Following their
first recce of the route Trautman says, “The trip made me realise that we were
going to have our work cut out putting into perspective the sheer enormity and
emptiness of the landscape whilst also doing justice to the athletic prowess and
mental solidarity needed to break the record. It was a creative challenge that didn’t
fail to disappoint and one I revelled being a part of.’
Producer Hannah Slezacek adds, “The remote nature of the Drakensberg
escarpment literally meant the only option was flying constantly between Lesotho
and South Africa and that ultimately meant there had to be a contingency plan for
the contingency plan’.
Watch the trailer for
Travailen.
