EXCLUSIVE: Ominous clouds are gathering at SXSW and CPH:DOX – not necessarily in the skies, but certainly on the big screen.
The IMAX Documentary presentation Stormbound, about daring storm chaser Jeff Gammons, holds its world premiere on Saturday at the Austin, Texas, festival, before heading next week to CPH:DOX in Copenhagen for its international premiere. Miko Lim directed the film and produced it along with Oscar winner Adam McKay, Trevor Jones, Todd Schulman, and John Turner.
Watch a dramatic clip from the documentary below.
“Stormbound thrusts audiences into the heart of the world’s most powerful hurricanes with breathtaking, never-before-seen footage captured from within,” notes a synopsis. “As wind, water, and land collide, the film follows storm chaser Jeff Gammons, who for more than thirty years has pushed closer than anyone else to document every major hurricane to strike the United States. Now tested by a near fatal disease, Gammons continues his pursuit — revealing the personal cost of chasing nature at its most extreme and the larger environmental forces shaping our world. Stormbound is a high-stakes, immersive experience that places audiences face-to-face with nature at its most powerful.”
In addition to Saturday’s world premiere, the documentary will screen in Austin on Sunday on the IMAX screen at Bullock Texas State History Museum, and on Monday and Wednesday at the Alamo Lamar.
In Copenhagen, along with the Thursday, March 19 international premiere, CPH:DOX screenings are slated for March 20 and 21.
The greatest threats to Gammons’ life have come not from chasing storms, but from immense health challenges.
“From the moment [Gammons] was born, his own body has been trying to kill him,” Lim writes in a director’s statement. “Jeff Gammons, 47, has had spinal cancer, paralysis, two kidney transplants, open heart surgery, a mechanical heart valve inserted, and all the painful and debilitating treatments and operations that go along with a lifetime of severe illnesses. Furthermore, anyone who has had a severe medical condition knows there’s the mental battle as well — fighting back anger, defeat, and resentment.
“But Jeff is far from depressed, nor does he have a death wish or thrill-seeking mentality. This is in no small part due to his loving wife Sara who storm-chases with him. You can see it in their stunning work or just being around them — the couple never portray the violent and destructive side of storms, instead seeing the larger-than-life beauty in them. Jeff and Sara’s visual art is inspiring, not threatening, as they become a part of the storm rather than its antagonist. Not to say what Jeff and Sara do isn’t exceedingly dangerous. He’s been swept off to sea, flung around like a rag doll, had his Jeep flipped over, and countless other near-death experiences.”
Lim continues, “Featuring unseen footage of Hurricanes Katrina, Idalia, and Charley, as well as unbelievable up-close encounters of tornadoes, Stormbound enters not just the world of storms, but the world of feelings — of those who are reborn in the most unlikely of places. ‘Hurricanes are the circle of life,’ says Jeff. ‘They destroy, but they heal at the same time… and they heal me too.’”
Stormbound is an IMAX Documentary Presentation, a Hyperobject Industries Production, in association with Anagram Pictures. Stephanie Mercado serves as executive producer. Cinematography is by Richard Hama; the film is edited by Leslie Jones, Miko Lim, and Nick Pezzillo. Colin Stetson composed the score.
In the clip below, Gammons films himself during a hurricane. “This marina’s getting thrashed,” he reports. And so is he.
English (US) ·