ROCKLANDS
..
a visual feast for bouldering enthusiasts, set in a hidden corner of
the dramatic Cederberg Mountains ...
... featuring Scott Milton, Bernd Zangerl,
Justin Hawkins, Mary Gabriell, Sandra Studer, Guillaume Boissard and
Fred Nicole ...
Directed by HEIN DE VOS |
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Hidden deep within the mountains of
Southern Africa, lies Rocklands.
A place of magnitude and strength. A
place of vastness and time. And damn good bouldering.
Follow a troupe of world renowned
climbers on a three month journey as they explore the magical landscape
of the Cederberg Mountains. Rocklands, with its unique rock formations,
is considered one of the best bouldering areas in the world. Captured
on film for the first time, the legend of Rocklands takes you into the
psyche of professional rock climbers.
Rocklands is a 48 minute documentary
set to an original score, featuring South Africa's freshest musical
talent.
Accept the challenge. Awake to the
essence of bouldering.
REVIEWED BY GREG HAMERTON
I'm not a climber, but I am an extreme sports enthusiast, so I see this
with a curious and somewhat ignorant eye. A landscape of many
rocks may hold great interest for someone who boulders, but before
the lengthy title sequence had ended I was getting antsy, wanting to
see something other than rocks that might be climbed.
The opening scene had me rivetted though. To see
a climber like Guillaume Boissard coming at you, upside down, just
defied belief. No, the camera isn't tilted, you can see the trees
outside pointing the wrong way. The creepy soundtrack by Lark just adds
to the delight. This is something out of the ordinary.
Hats off to the film-makers to getting their big
cameras right into the action, which must have involved laying some
complicated tracks and rigs. For a study on climbing technique this is
a great production and it makes you feel you're having a session with
these legendary climbers at your local climbing wall.Scott Milton
brings light to the duller moments - as a presence he is in a class of
his own and hugely entertaining.
The climbing is certainly world class, but the
film itself, although including superb bouldering footage, lacks a
storyline. I wanted to see more of a journey portrayed in Rocklands; it
is more like a site guide to the most insane routes you could
attempt on some of the most convoluted rock in the world. This won't
bother hard-core climbers at all, because the visual poetry
of watching these spiders climb under the rock is enough to get you
reaching for your chalk bag.

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