Documentary
BIG RIVER MAN – FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
BIG RIVER MAN is an environmentally aware documentary about an eccentric, larger-than-life Slovenian extreme swimmer. In February 2007 Martin Strel began an insane attempt to be the first person to swim the entire length of the world’s most dangerous river, the Amazon.
The Fish Man, as he was called by the local tribes, almost died in the process several times. Towards the end of his marathon ordeal his blood pressure was at heart attack level, his entire body full of subcutaneous larvae and besieged by dehydration and exhaustion.
Martin is an endurance swimmer who swims rivers – the Mississippi, the Danube, Paraná and the Yangtze prior to the Amazon – to highlight their pollution to the world. During this epic journey he suffered from blisters, sunburn, exotic stomach illnesses, all the while trying to avoid piranhas, anacondas, crocodiles, alligators, river sharks, and a small parasitic fish known as the candiru.
Martin serves as a metaphor for the “Everyman”, and prove, once and for all, that one man can make a difference.
Director: John Maringouin
Producers: Maria Florio, Molly Hassell, Molly Lynch, John Maringouin, Roger M Mayer, Kevin Ragsdale
Executive Producers: Mickey Cottrell, Olivia Newton-John
Co-producer: Borut Strel
Director of Photography: John Maringouin
Music: Rich Ragsdale
Narrator: Borut Strel
Cast: Martin Strel, Borut Strel, Matt Mohlke
Country: USA, UK
Running time: 100 min
Doha international film festival, Oct 2009
Branchage internatinal film festival, Oct 2009
Melbourne international film festival – July 2009
New Zealand international film festival – July 2009
Moscow film festival – Moscow, Russia, June 2009
IFI Stranger than fiction film festival- Dublin, Ireland, June 2009
Edinburgh film festival – Scottland, UK, June 2009
Los angeles film festival – Los angeles, USA, June 2009
Sydney film festival – Sydney, Australia, June 2009
Telluride film festival – Colorado, USA, May 2009
Hotdocs film festival – Toronto, Canada, May 2009
Nashville film festival – Tennessee, USA, April 2009
True/false film festival – Missouri, USA, Feb 2009
Sundance film festival – Utah, USA, Jan 2009
> Sundance 2009: Best Cinematography in World Cinema Documentary Competition
> Revolver Entertainment, UK, theatrical release date: Sept, 2009
> Umbrella Entertainment, Australia/New Zealand, theatrical release date: Sept 2009
