Adventure Travel Film Festival

This entry is part 8 of 26 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #4

The Adventure Travel Film Festival ran for its third year in 2014. There were a swag of bike movies on the bill, so Doug James packed up and headed to the Victorian high-country town of Bright to sit back, take in a few flicks and swap a few yarns.

February 14-16, in Bright, Victoria

I had a plan. A cunning plan, a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel.

Adventure riding often starts with inspiration from others. Did I buy that BMW before Charlie and Ewan did Long Way Round? Or did adventure riding just creep into my head as the perfect way to combine my love of bikes and a sense of adventure?

The ATFF

If worldwide travel is your thing – and let’s face it, we’d probably all be doing it if we could – or if capturing the events of your bike trips on film appeals, the Adventure Travel Film Festival may be your thing. The ATFF is the perfect event to combine the atmosphere of inspiration and information with fellow adventure riders in an adventure country.

It’s when too much adventure is never enough.

The ATFF features the work of a variety of riders, writers, photographers and filmmakers, and most are on hand to accompany their presentations.

Q&A

As a film festival the event has branched beyond some of the best one-off adventure films to include talks, workshops and photographic exhibitions, all with the outdoors and adventure as the main theme.

Such is the inspiration that I’ve used this event to catapult my annual ride calendar into reality. Yep. I gather a bunch of ride buddies to head to Bright, get inspired and get some rides on paper. It’s called commitment.

Picture this: you’re watching a photographic exhibition of a retired policeman and his wife criss-crossing the Andes in South America on a BMW R1200GS, and they’re right there in person.

Combining pictures and extracts from their book Circle to Circle, Brian Rix and Shirley Hardy-Rix narrated their South American travel events with a this-is-not-impossible-foranyone attitude.

Then they hung around all weekend and answered questions at the festival HQ.

“Go ahead ask ’em anything,” I was told. So I did. Tyres, seats, packing, petrol…you name it. After 85,000km on your bike you’d probably have an answer for it all too.

People power

If capturing your adventures in photographic brilliance is your desire, then Cam Cope was worth the ticket price alone.

While Cam isn’t an adventure rider like my mate on his tricked-up DR650, he takes far better pics than my mate.

Cam is a serious world traveller with a photographic portfolio that is both stunning and inspirational – did I use that word already? Check out Mongolia In The Footsteps Of Nomads on his website www.camcope.com.

Did I mention the films yet? Wait, there’s more.

Paul Carter, of Is That Thing Diesel? fame, spent an hour with the crowd at the Bright Community Centre. You know the guy – he wanted to be the first person to ride around Australia on a bike powered by used cooking oil. He had stories that kept the crowd cringing, but always laughing, with a touch of inspiration from the back of a biofuel bike on his way around Australia, all at a top speed of 80kph.

Adventure rider magnet

One other thing that happens at the ATFF is that it’s becoming an adventure-rider magnet. I met some really interesting guys and girls who’ve travelled far and wide on a variety of bikes.

Colin Meagher aboard his KTM 690 has fitted a Safari Tank and some of the coolest panniers I’ve ever seen. I reckon Colin was before his time when he made his leather panniers in the 1980s. God knows how many bikes they’ve been on. He did say he’d been around plenty of Australia, plus a trip to Africa. I wondered if those were rhino marks on the back of ’em. I’ll have to wait until next year to ask him.

Paul Shurvell caught my eye when he backed his Ural sidecar outfit up to the curb outside Festival HQ. The orange beast really does stand out from the crowd, plus it takes up two bike spots.

What got Paul into sidecars or moved him toward purchasing a Russian-made bike? You only have to ask him. He’s a passionate convert to the three-wheeler, and it does make carrying gear for camping look easy.

Martin Wilkes is an unassuming sort of guy with a friendly manner and he’s only too happy to share some stories of worldwide adventure travel. Following 25 years in the military, Martin travelled to many overseas destinations. My favourite is the Dusk To Dawson Motorcycle Ride, including riding the Dempster and the Top Of The World Highways. He also has some tips for getting to sleep in Alaska during longest daylight day of the year.

Movie madness

When will we get to the films?

As you can tell, there’s plenty going on at the Festival, and it’s not all on celluloid.

The films create the springboard for all the other stuff to occur. If you’ve ever shot video footage you’ll know it’s hardly a ‘film’, and a lot of postproduction work goes into creating a movie that looks authentic. And authentic these films are. Each film, mostly in documentary style tells a story of adventure from conception to completion, all in relatable human terms.

Are all the films about adventure riders on motorcycles? No, not all. But there are plenty.

Will I relate to the adventure spirit no matter what the vehicle, or even on foot? If you’re human, you can’t help it.

Would I go again?

I’ve already been twice in the Festival’s three-year history, and I’ll be going again next year. I hope to see you there.

And for the last time, it’s inspirational! For details of the ATFF events, films, speakers and other attractions, go to www.adventuretravelfilmfestival.com.

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