Splitboard film: Through Darkness
“High up in northern Norway, above the Arctic Circle, five snowboarders, locals and visitors, are out in the mountains during the polar night. Their attention to the dark is curious, their perception focused on the immediate environment. Their field of view is narrowed along with the length of daylight, everyday life becomes a challenge, one's own rhythm changes.”
The title of the movie "Through Darkness" can be understood quite literally, but also as a metaphor: Is darkness just the absence of light? Do we need darkness, in order to recognise the brightness of light? Can we really understand the fullness of life when we are buried in a crisis?”
From long ascents to steep couloirs and tree runs lit by northern lights, Melissa Brandner and Manuela Mandl (FWT champ 2018) have created a snowboard movie that inspires the audience to think about ways of coping with a variety of challenges.
[17min, English language]
Melissa is Backdrop’s newest crew member - Freeride World Tour competitor, avid splitboarder, surfer, climber, ambassador for Protect Out Winters, and Marine biology PhD - and if that weren’t enough, also a film director. As well as co-director Manuela and Freeride World Tour winner 2018, the film also features big-line rider Krister Kopala and Furberg Snowboard’s CEO Hampus Cederhome - linked here to the podcasts we’ve done with them - as well as Eirik Verlo, Norwegian freeride legend.
The film is now is on general release after spending some time locked into Norwegian channels - check it out below, and on youtube:
Melissa’s had a busy season already on Backdrop trips, so stay-tuned for her articles, reviews, and other contributions coming up, but in the mean time, do check out the stylish and thoughtful film: Through Darkness
