The Great Australian Triathlon Documentary Kickstarter
Our Kickstarter is live and can be found here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tgat2020/the-great-australian-triathlon
Ben first dreamed up this idea in 2015. For the last four years he’s been working towards this goal. But why?
As an outdoor enthusiast and documentary film maker I want to explore the reasons people like Ben give up well paid jobs and comfortable lives, battle through injuries and sacrifice their careers for the sake of what some people would see as pointless goals. Ben will face countless challenges from extreme fatigue to hungry hungry crocodiles, dangerous tides and wild bush fires, all for no material benefit. He’s not being paid (he’s spent all his savings on the trip), he won’t get a world record (Guinness won’t recognise the expedition), and it's likely that large parts of the trip will be a 'sufferfest'. What I find particularly interesting is that it is not only Ben who is heading out on this punishing journey, but he’s persuaded six other people to take time out of work, their studies and wedding planning to join him!
The documentary will follow Ben’s progress from planning and training at home, to the challenges and triumphs on the ground in Australia. I’ll be exploring the psychology behind why people decide to embark on such radical and life-changing journeys, what fuels them and what they hope they will get from it. In addition to Ben's story, I want to explore what has motivated Claire, Emma, Alie, Aidan, Dan and Mike to step out of a 'normal', stable and comfortable life to join Ben for their respective legs of The Great Australian Triathlon. Furthermore, we will have the opportunity to delve into the ideas and misconceptions of one of the world’s largest and most sparsely populated countries. For example, I want to look into why bush fires are so prevalent in Australia, what causes them and why are they so important for the ecosystem. Another topic I would like to spend time exploring and banishing the Aussie stereotype that all of their wildlife is out to kill you and it is actually a much safer place than you may think. Overall you can expect sweeping shots of the beautiful Australian landscapes, close-encounters with the local wildlife and of course engaging and interesting stories weaving in and out of the overarching tale of The Great Australian Triathlon.
There will be an environmental undertone to the film; we are hoping the expedition will encourage others to use their cars a little less, and their own human power a little more. I think we will convey throughout that while human powered modes of transport are slower, they can provide so much more stimuli and engagement by allowing us to slow down a little, recharge and have some fun along the way! However it is not lost on us that travelling around the world to create a film about using human-powered transport is somewhat contradictory and we sure as hell don't want to undermine our under-lying environmental message. From this, we plan on carbon offsetting the trip by calculating the overall carbon cost of the expedition (generated from non-human powered transport) and donating the carbon offsetting cost to a Australian and/or UK based initiative.