Climber Hazel Findlay in action
Tomorrow sees the release of an award-winning film producer’s latest work.
Odyssey, Paul Diffley’s road-trip account of a two-week journey with four top climbers, will premiere at the Climbing Works in Sheffield on Saturday.
And, with the support of outdoor brand The North Face, the Hot Aches film-maker will also offer a free streaming online release of the film for 10 days.
The movie will also be available to buy at a discount price either on DVD or by download during this time.
Directed by Dom Bush, Odyssey follows some of the world’s best climbers tackling some of the best areas of traditional rock climbing in the UK.
James Pearson, Hazel Findlay, Austrian Hansjörg Auer and Caroline Ciavaldini of France and the four-man camera team visited the Lake District, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, Northumberland and north Wales.
Mr Pearson will give a talk before the film and he, Ms Ciavaldini, the director and producer will also be at the Climbing Works for a question and answer session to give the audience their behind-the-scenes insight into the making of the film.
Mr Diffley said: “My normal route would be to enter film festivals and do a traditional premiere.
“Once a film’s done the rounds at a few festivals it becomes available for download and sale on DVD and then via specialist channels.
“Festivals are great for the people there but even the biggest ones only a few hundred people will see the film and a few thousand will ever buy on DVD or download.
“By holding a worldwide online premiere we hope thousands and thousands of climbers will enjoy it for free during the initial 10-day period. Obviously this is a commercial venture and I hope some of those people will then enjoy it so much that they’ll buy a copy to keep and maybe buy a DVD for a gift as a present for a friend.
“The North Face are natural partners. In terms of climbing they’re probably the biggest climbing company out there globally.
“When I started to put the team together I was looking for strong rockclimbers. I’ve worked with James and Hazel before who are both sponsored by The North Face who have a really strong rockclimbing team.
“So with two of the climbers fixed it made sense to make it a North Face quartet with Caroline and Hansjörg. They also have a really strong online and social media presence so it’s a strong partnership to try an innovative new method of distribution.”
Matt Heason, director of the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival said: “”If you’ve an interest in British climbing, ethics, and watching some very gifted climbers climbing some hard routes and talking about them in a very laid back manner, then you should definitely watch it.”
Tickets for tomorrow’s event are available on the Climbing Works website.
