20 Seconds Of Joy
Jan 02 - Jan 08, 2009
(Jens Hoffmann, Germany, 2007, Beta-SP, 60 min)
“I don’t want to die, I want to live. I’m pretty good at running away, and this is my escape!” This is how Karina Hollekim describes her dedication to BASE jumping (the ackronym stands for building, antenna, span and earth—the fixed objects from which participants jump with only a parachute), the most dangerous of all extreme sports. In Jens Hoffmann's breathtaking documentary, the filmmaker follows the elusive extreme sport athlete for five years through spectacular landscapes in some of the most remote corners of the world. Is the high worth the price when one wrong move means certain death? For Karina, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" With the danger come the ultimate rush, and the eponymous twenty seconds of joy. The film offers stunning cinematography and a spectacular joyride.
"SW Pick: Brace your stomach as the camera follows her off bridges, into deep fjords, out of airplanes, off a sandstone tower in Mali...even skiing off a snowy ledge in the Dolomites." -Seattle Weekly
Watch the trailer: