We first met Ben Sturgelewski when he was in college. He and his then compatriots from Sweetgrass Productions drove a school bus into our parking lot and camped out while Greg worked with them on post audio for one of their soon-to-be-famous gorgeous ski films.
Since then, we’ve worked with Ben on a few projects including some branded films for Patagonia. His latest project has been a labor of love for his team at Sturge Film, and for ours. It’s another beautiful film that is ostensibly about skiing – but in reality, it’s a much deeper story. Here’s how he and his partner Katie Stjernholm describe it:
The golden valley of Bamyan, Afghanistan is once again on the edge of a great change. Skiing has been introduced to the ancient mountain city, sparking an unlikely yet joyful athletic revolution. Two teenage potato farmers from rival ethnic groups vie for the crown of an exhilarating ski race, led by an Olympic-hopeful local coach who sees a deeper truth in the sport as a tool for building camaraderie and resiliency within the community. But the stakes of those lessons become existential when they endure the shocking collapse of their country to the Taliban, displacing many across the globe as refugees, and forcing them all to face a future they could never have dreamed of.
CHAMPIONS OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY is both an inspiring sports fable and a portrait of people in the midst of profound transition — parallel stories converging to explore what it means to be a champion, in all its forms.
The film is premiering next week at The Tribeca Film Festival – get your tickets here!
Next stop is DC/DOX.