The idea of an endless winter is a dream for many skiers and snowboarders, but a reality for only a lucky few. Our friends at Stilbezirk made the pilgrimage south to Chile this summer, revelling in the expansive ski terrain of the Andes while we endured the summer sweats back in Europe. However, not everything went according to plan: the Andes are notoriously fickle weather-wise, and the crew struggled through a shortage of snow and other challenges. Still, they came back with one great video and a hell of a story!
El Sueño de mi Vida is a ski and travel movie set in the Chilean Andes, showcasing Roman Rohrmoser, Felix Wiemers, Christian Reichenberger, Lukas Ebenbichler, Drew Tabke and Anton Sponar as they trade summer sun for snow. The trailer has one of the best soundtracks you’ll hear this year and some incredible cinematography, and we’re looking forward to seeing the full film on the big screen!
We spoke to Henne from Stilbezirk about his experience filming a Southern Hemisphere winter:
What is the concept for the film/what did you want to show?
We did not want to make another ski action flick but a kind of documentary / arthouse movie about dreams and life styles. By the way the movie is called: El sueño de mi vida – The dream of my lifetime… And Endless Winter is the subtitle.
Why Chile?
Because Anton Sponar lives there and we wanted powder in august!
How were the logistics? Did everything run smoothly?
Not really, but this is normal for these kind of productions. Some of the conditions were really tough. Thin air in the Puma Lodge area was pretty hard for me, and drop offs on isolated peaks can be pretty scary too. Plus the camera gear did not work sometimes, so we missed some of the better shots, too. However, the biggest problem was the timeframe and the budget – though again this is normal…
Would you really be happy with an endless winter, or would you miss summer?
Of course not. I love summer, the ocean, and the surf; however a couple of months of perfect pow is great, too! Our hero Anton is very close to a life of endless winter though… May to September in Chile, and October till April in Aspen… That means about 330 Days of Winter!
What sort of camera equipment were you using?
Jonas Abendstein was shooting with the Red Epic; I was rolling the Sony FS 700, and we used GoPros, Zeiss Prime Lenses and Canon Lenses.
How did you get all the cameras up the mountain?
For a couple of shoots we were able to use an Airbus a350, and at Ski Arpa we got a lift with Tonis Cats. The rest of the time we had to walk, climb and carry everything on our backs!
Any expensive mistakes/dropped cameras?
We lost a quadcopter to the condors, and the ground staff at Santiago Airport charged us shit loads of cash for our overweight luggage…
Did you learn anything new from this film project?
I learned to ski… Before the movie I was a snowboard nerd only, but now I am also able to slide down a mountain in the Andes on two boards! Not much of a styler, but for working stuff it is alright.
In one sentence, can you tell us why we should watch the film?
It is a film that you can watch with your girlfriend or friend who is not a skibum, as you might be. We do not have the sickest skiporn, but instead a real story about some characters that love skiing and snow.
For more information about the full film, and when you can see it, check out the official website here: http://www.endlesswintermovie.com