Welcome to Wild Rivers Film Radio, the official
podcast of the Wild Rivers Film Festival
right here on KCIW
one hundred point seven FM.
I'm your host, Bev Jadet.
And joining me today as cohost is Rick
McNamer.
We're talking this morning with Sarah McNair Landry,
and her film,
A Bath and Vacation,
Love on Ice is an official selection of
the Wild Rivers Film Festival this year.
And this is Rick. Before we dive in,
we'd like to thank the Wild Rivers Film
Festival's twenty twenty five presenting sponsor, the Tolowa
Dene Nation,
whose generous support makes both our festival and
our summer film workshop possible.
We also thank Oregon's Wild Rivers Coast,
Sutter Coast Hospital, and the city of Brookings.
To learn more about supporting independent film on
the Wild Rivers Coast, visit wildriversfilmfestival.com.
If you're just discovering us, welcome.
The Wild Rivers Film Festival is a four
day celebration of independent regional and international
film.
We screen dozens of films across multiple venues
with filmmaker q and a's, panels, and special
events
that connect the audience directly with the artist
behind the work. This year's festival will run
August
'16,
and passes are on sale right now.
Sarah, welcome to the Wild Rivers Film Radio.
It's great to have you here. Thank you.
Excited to be here.
To start us off, could you introduce yourself
to our listeners?
Tell us a bit about your background both
as an adventurer
and as a filmmaker.
Yeah. Of course. My name's Sarah, and I
grew up on Baffin Island in the Canadian
Arctic, and it's still home.
And
I
basically just love being outside.
I
started doing exhibitions at a pretty young age
and completely fell in love with it.
So,
anytime I get time off, I kinda disappear
for a month or two or three,
either in the Canadian Arctic or Greenland or
Antarctica.
And we were lucky enough to see that
film, and, man, it was just absolutely wonderful.
So what drew you to telling this particular
story, and how did Baffin Island Vacation Love
on Ice come to be?
It was always a dream of ours to
go to this certain area in Baffin. And,
for those who don't know, Baffin is the
fifth largest island in the world. Even though
it's home, there's so many areas that are
still completely unknown. And,
yeah, I haven't really gotten a chance to
go to, and this was one of them.
And
myself and my partner, Eric Boomer, who's also
a filmmaker and
an athlete in the film,
Yeah. I had really wanted to take into
this area in the summertime.
So
we
decided to load up with, seventy days of
food and film equipment and camera equipment and
set off and,
yeah, then basically the entire summer
exploring this area.
That was one of our questions was how
long did that take you? Because
you visited so many incredible looking sites
And from raging water to
crystal clear ice, we just wondered, how long
were you there? So you were there the
entire summer?
We were. And that's a bit about the
tricky thing with approaching this area in the
summer is that,
in the film, we traveled in on skis
and kite skis when
the sea ice was still frozen.
But then as soon as the sea ice
started breaking up, it becomes very difficult to
travel. So you can't ski on the ice
anymore, but you also can't kayak because there's
so many ice chunks, and it's kind of
all blocked up and broken up. So in
some ways, we knew we were
we were trying to get in as late
as we could in the season
while we could still ski, and then we
knew we're kinda getting ourselves stuck in there
for the summer.
Wow.
And
Go ahead. Well, I was gonna say, and
that summer up there isn't like our summer
down here. It's just a couple of months.
I'm guessing.
Well, you said seventy days is what it
took you.
Yeah. It's pretty short.
Yeah. We went in late June, and then
we came out mid August ish.
And did you pack in all your food
at the very beginning, or were there did
you have food drops? Where how did you
do that?
We packed
most of our stuff in. Our climbing gear
was very heavy. It's a lot of metal,
And we had some friends that were heading
into the area to go fishing, so they
were able to bring some of our heavier,
climbing gear and some food in. But apart
from that, we carried everything in.
Wow.
So at at what point did you realize
this journey wasn't just an expedition,
but a film worth sharing with a with
a wider audience? And, boy, is it worth
sharing with a wider audience. It's fantastic.
Oh, thank you. We went into it knowing
we wanted to make a film,
and
with an idea of the film, which is
always hard because you don't really know how
the expedition's gonna save out and what's the
main story gonna be. But but we definitely
went in with camera gear and with the
idea
that we wanted to come out of it,
with the with the film.
That's so cool.
One one of the things that struck us
was that it looked isolated.
Fantastic, but isolated.
And we wondered what your biggest challenges
were when you were filming in such extreme
conditions.
It wasn't very isolated. We saw zero people
the entire time,
which was nice,
which is what we wanted. Yeah.
But,
I think our biggest challenge is, especially beyond
expedition,
is the weight of the camera gear. It's
quite heavy. Mhmm.
Especially for,
you know, the the kayaking section where you're
hauling the kayaks on your shoulder.
So we really had to think about
what exactly we wanted and pair back,
and also battery power. So we had a
small solar system, but, all our batteries were
dependent on charging
on solar.
So it also we had very limited power
as well, which really makes you think especially
the drone. The drone uses so much power.
We really had to plan our shots and
and think about, like, oh, is this gonna
be a key shot or an important moment
to film,
which I think is good in some ways
because it makes me think about it a
little bit more instead of building everything
and over filming.
Yeah. That was something else I wondered about.
Like, when you guys are shooting down these
rapids,
did you think, hey. It looked good, or
what if it didn't look good? How did
you did you make a decision right then
and there? I'm gonna reshoot that. Let's do
it again.
Some of the rapids,
we didn't always have the choice to do
again,
especially some of the bigger ones.
Because,
yeah, sometimes it's like, you know, there there's
a level of of danger in them too,
and and
you might not wanna repeat them a second
time.
But,
so a lot of times, there's a one
shot kind of opportunity.
Mhmm. And,
and we would just have we had a
pretty good system. I I would get the
drone in the air and then
a a film camera on the tripod and
then a GoPro on a kayak.
And then oftentimes, I'd put up a still
camera on, like, a quick one second
kinda snapshot.
So then you could capture hopefully, you know,
you capture
the moment somehow.
Sounds very cool. And But it was very
stressful.
I was wondering about that too. Big big
drop. Did you forget
ever that you were filming,
or were you always conscious of I'm telling
a story here?
We were conscious
because we went in
to the exhibition with the goal of doing
it. It was something that we thought about
when we talked about,
and, you know, it's a seventy day expedition.
So while the convos was like, oh, would
this make a good story? Is it worth
filming or is it not worth filming?
So it's definitely something that was on our
mind,
a lot. But then, you know, other days
too, like,
when we're hiking with big loads and shuttle
weather, shuttling
gear to the base of the climb or
you know, you only need so many of
those shots, and then you can kinda put
the camera down and just zone out and
put your head down and
do the hard work.
Yeah. Did you have, like, a particular moment
that stands out where,
filming had to take a back seat to
maybe safety or survival?
Yeah. There's a couple moments, and that's why
they're not in the house too because they
weren't you know, we just didn't film them.
But,
there was definitely a moment when we're trying
to get through the sea ice and we
started and there's still a lot of broken
up ice and,
it was just really tricky. You can't really
paddle and then you're like
yeah. Trying to paddle then hop across, and
all the ice started pushing up towards this
cliff. The wind just started pushing it, and
we're kinda getting pushed with the ice. And
it was fine. We were able to just
work really hard and and move fast and
get out of there, but it that was
the moment that we didn't,
we captured a little bit of it, but
not enough to really create a story that
made it into the final film. Mhmm. And
with all that,
equipment that you guys had
and the kayaking wasn't like kayaking kayaking down
one of our rivers here. I
it looked like Niagara Falls to me. It
did. Did you
did you lose any equipment? I I I
can only imagine you must have.
Or were you able to to get through
it all with all your equipment that you
originally had?
That's a good question. I still don't think
we lost any equipment, which is surprising because
usually, you lose a GoPro off the front
of a kayak or something.
But I don't believe we did lose anything
on this one. Wow.
That's pretty amazing from the from the shots
that we saw.
Did the environment influence,
the emotional tone of the film at all?
Perhaps.
Yes. You know, it's it's a majestic place.
I think I definitely think as a character
in the film,
the place, because it's just so stunning and
incredible and,
yeah, we definitely
wanted to create a tone that was
fun
and and,
and hoping to make it funny too. And
it certainly showed not well, not only as
majestic
as what it was, dangerous looking, but it
was absolutely beautiful.
It was. And you guys looked like you
were having fun
and enjoying each other. Just
I don't know. There's a early shot you
put in there,
of yourself as a child,
and there's a precociousness
about your face.
And it it played through the rest of
the film.
Your personality is a wonderful dynamic personality.
Yes. That and also We have Oh, go
ahead. Please. Go ahead.
Hello. Go for it. Well, Well, I was
just gonna say and also you now you
were born and raised on Baffin Island, you
said.
So maybe very early in your life, did
you you must have got that wanderlust already
to check out the beautiful place
where you live
and grew up.
Yeah.
Yeah. Exactly. And
and my parents,
were both polar guides and owned and operated,
like, a guiding company. So I grew up
with a dog team and,
you know, they drag us out camping and
we're always outside,
whether for fun or, you know, the early
age, I started guiding as well. So it
definitely
taught me just to love the outdoors.
Well, it's funny. You say drag they started
to drag you out, and then you end
up wanting to go out and tackle it
yourself,
defying all the odds. Yeah.
And so I use the word drag because
you know how it is when you're a
kid. You don't always wanna do things that
Yeah. But your parents are doing. Correct. But
where I got drugged too wasn't, the outdoors
like you were you were drugged to. Yeah.
You were in a magical place from there.
It was or it is. So at its
heart, this film is about partnership
on and off the ice. How did your
relationship factor into both the journey itself
and the storytelling?
I mean, it
our relationship becomes, like,
one of the main themes in the film.
It wasn't necessarily what we set out to
do, but it's hard to ignore the fact
that we're a couple
and we're going out in these areas. And
and not only were we on the exhibition
together, but we're also filming the film together
as well.
And,
we actually had a good friend who did
all the editing for the film.
So he was the one that really was
able to weave that story together.
Did you say
you you had a friend he wasn't with
you, though? He or was he missing to?
It was just the two of us. Right.
No. It was just the two of us
on the exposition, and we did all the
filming. Oh, okay. But then for the for
the editing,
we had a friend who edited, which I
think is a
was really good. Sometimes you can be too
because we were
not only the filmmakers, but also the characters
in the film, I think it's good to
have a third person
and a different perspective come in and help
crack the story. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. There must have definitely been scenes,
that you felt like, oh, I don't know
if I wanna share that with everybody.
And so it would be good to have
that third party
who says, no. We're gonna leave it in
because that's great footage.
Or who says, yeah. I I agree with
you. Let's take that part out.
Yeah. Exactly. Sometimes we get,
really attached to,
shots or scenes partly because we did put
effort into filming them. You know? There's one
that didn't make it, and we're like, but
it took us a half a day.
But it just didn't belong. And then there's
other moments where,
you know,
it I have a funny look or a
booger, whatever it is that I probably wanna
put in film. But it made it in
the final shot. So I think it's
So what's it been like, to share the
film with audiences so far?
It's been really fun.
It's I was able to go to the
band song festival,
when it premiered in Canada. And
it's such a different experience when you're sitting
in a theater and you get to hear
everybody laugh and,
yeah, it makes it really special.
You know, I have one question. You guys
were you camped out you were just camped
out over there overnight at various places.
Isn't that big, polar I think you mentioned
polar bears briefly, but
what about
any kind of protections you carried with you
when you were camping out?
We did. We, we brought in multiple
bear deterrents
Okay. With us. And we we also had
a,
a bear fence too, which is a bit
of a tripwire fence just to warn
us if a bear came in the camp,
which we didn't set up often, but we
had it as an option if we felt
like we needed it. Okay.
Because aren't they they're pretty notoriously
aggressive from what I understand.
Yeah. I would say they're very curious. They
definitely like to come check you out.
Okay.
So it's so what,
what's next for you? Are there more journeys,
films, or stories on the horizons?
Yeah. Hopefully, more of all of them. We're
just gearing up for a busy,
guiding season. And then,
hopefully, this May,
we have another adventure planned and,
which will be both an adventure and another
film project
as well.
Well, I tell you, the one that we
watched, it was it was just simply
simply fantastic.
Just loved
watching that that film. Really did.
Yeah. I can't wait to have the audiences
Oh, man. See that. You bet. And we've
got a special screening of it coming up.
But before I get to that, I I
know people might wanna jot that down. I'd
like to know, is there something
that you're planning to film anytime soon, another
journey perhaps,
or a story that you're interested in telling?
There are so many stories.
Hopefully,
this next one will be a little bit
of a mix of adventure and some wildlife
stuff as well, which I'm really excited about.
I've been working more,
doing wildlife filming lately. So,
yeah, we're kinda hoping to blend a little
bit of our two passions and,
create another
fun
bath and vacation style, but with a little
bit more of the wildlife
angle. That would be cool. That would be
very cool. Wonder, that we didn't see a
lot of wildlife.
But you guys were so adventurous
that
that was like a minor thing.
And it is is isolated as the place
appears to be, I I bet we we
would be amazed at how how varied the
wildlife is
there.
Okay.
Yeah. It really depends on the area we're
in. We saw lots of seals
and but a lot of the times, like,
the whole area we were climbing is just
glaciers and moraine, and it's very,
not very lush. So there's actually not a
lot of wildlife kinda in that whole climbing
area. Okay. But then again, along the river,
we saw a lot of more birds and
and wildlife there. So, I would say it
kinda varied depending on what area we were
in. We wondered there was a distance shot,
and we wondered about
trees or grasses.
So often the distance was that, like, a
moss type of thing, or was it shrubbery?
Looked like there was some green. It's
Yeah. Like Yeah. Lichen. Tundra up there, but
some of the, yeah, some of the tundra
and lichen can be quite green Okay.
Especially where
where it's,
lush or kind of around the river and
bodies of water.
Well, it was very cool.
So I know that our audience,
might wanna grab a pen for this because
I'm gonna give you a date and location
where we're gonna show this film
during the month of February.
But as we begin to wrap up, Abafin
Vacation,
Love on Ice is a beautiful inspiring film,
and it's been a pleasure talking with you,
Sarah. Thank you for joining us on the
Wild Rivers Film Radio.
And, again, for those of you who wanna
see this fantastic film,
the film will screen as part of Wild
Rivers Film Festival programming
during the Brookings second Saturday Art Walk
on February 14,
Valentine's Day, so you could bring your sweetie
and watch this. It would be very appropriate.
Mhmm.
From three to 6PM
at the Compass Rose Cafe.
So come for some adventurous
romance.
And in closing here,
I have I have some stuff to say.
Do you have any last minute,
words you wanna say to us, Sarah?
I just wanna say thanks for having me.
It was fun, and I really hope everybody
enjoys the film.
Oh, I think they will. Oh, that's a
that's kind of a no brainer, I think.
Yes. Yeah. I mean, we were just we
were excited watching your film, and we were
talking, and,
we were amazed at how brave you guys
were at times, and we felt your excitement.
So I have a feeling that audiences are
gonna be fully engaged
just like we were when they watch it.
You bet. And and one more thing. We
have a little more time. I was you
said safety.
Were there any injuries at all during this
outing that you
had?
I should say you and Eric. I'm sorry.
Didn't mean to not include Eric.
And were you prepared for anything?
We were prepared. We always carry a first
aid kit and are both trained for first
aid and
always in the back of our mind. We
had a couple small injuries.
I actually
halfway up the climb, I try to catch
the drone, and I
shot my finger up pretty badly in the
propeller. Oh.
Yeah.
And then
we had a rock fall
that kinda clipped my shoulder on the climb.
Again, it wasn't
bad, but it was a a reminder of
how,
how real and how scary things can get
quickly out there.
Boy, I tell you. And you you got
through it in your,
made it through to shoot another day, and
I meant shoot a film Yes. Yes. Another
day. And we're grateful for that. Yeah. It
was just a wonderful, wonderful
film. I can't,
give it enough accolades.
Really had a good time. And I have
one more question we didn't ask you. At
one point, it looked like you had rigged
up, like,
a a sleeping
harness
when you were climbing. Did you guys sleep
as you were climbing up that mountain,
like, on the rock face? We spent
yeah. We did. We spent five nights on
the side of the wall
Oh, wow. Climbing. So
we,
we had a little porter ledge that kinda
hangs off. We try to find a big
ledge,
you know, so you could still cook, and
we hung a little porter ledge off the
side of the wall.
And it was both of our first time
ever
really living on the side of the wall
like that and camping on the side of
the wall. So it was pretty exciting.
But, yeah, I slept in my harness every
night.
Is that scary? Did you Just in case
I rolled out.
Because I would worry that somehow tossing and
turning, I would wiggle the thing loose and
go crashing down.
Exactly. That's why I had a harness on,
and I was clipped in separately. So
I was backed up. That's good.
Well, thank you so much, Sarah, for the
conversation. It has been enlightening and fun, and
I can't wait to see you over the
summer when we actually get to meet you
in person.
That's it for this episode of the Wild
Rivers Film Radio.
To learn more about the festival,
bypasses,
volunteer,
or explore sponsorship opportunities,
visit wildriversfilmfestival.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok,
and YouTube.
Yes. And thank you very much, Sarah. What
a what a great, great story.
And we'd also like to thank the folks
that make this interview possible. Recording was Michael
Gorse,
sound mixing and editing, mister Tom Bozak,
producer Sue Wright, and, of course, our guest,
Sarah McNair Landry,
and your host, Beth Juday, along with me,
Rick McNamer, KCIW
one hundred point seven FM, beautiful Brookings, Oregon.
Thanks for listening,
and we'll see you with the movies.