Red Bull & Amazon-Backed Doc ‘Downhill Skiers’ With Ski Champion Marco Odermatt Starts Shoot For Ascot Elite & Blue Bird Pictures
EXCLUSIVE: Swiss distribution and production group Ascot Elite Entertainment has announced the start of shoot for Austrian filmmaker Gerald Salmina’s hi-octane sports doc and four-part mini series Downhill Skiers – Ain’t No Mountain Steep Enough.
The two-part production capturing the world of competitive downhill skiing began shooting on April 8 and will continue filming up until the Alpine World Ski Championships in the Austrian resort town of Saalbach Hinterglemm in February 2025.
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Swiss ski champion Marco Odermatt, who has enjoyed a record-breaking run on the ski championship circuit this past season, will be the focus of the doc with appearances by other stars of the ski race scene such as Switzerland’s Jasmine Flury, France’s Cyprien Sarrazin and Austria’s Marco Schwarz.
“To win, you have to surpass yourself and take on the challenges of gravity and centrifugal force in an area that is difficult to control without being brutally thrown off,” said Salmina. “Downhill Skiers – Ain’t No Mountain Steep Enough – is a film that wants to find out and learn what exactly drives these athletes and how the best of them manage to constantly push their limits.”
Salmina previously explored this world with his 2014 sports doc Streif – One Hell Of A Ride, following competitors as they trained for the ski challenge on the legendary Austrian Streif course in Kitzbühel, which is billed as one of the most dangerous in the world.
His other past works include Alaska-shot Mount St. Elias, about three mountaineers attempting the longest ski descent in the world, and Namibia-shot speed windsurfing doc Bjorn – Born To Windsurf.
Downhill Skiers – Ain’t No Mountain Steep Enough is a co-production between Blue Bird Pictures and Elite Filmproduktion in cooperation with Red Bull Media House, Amazon, Austrian broadcaster ORF and Swiss company CH Media, and funded by the Austrian Film Institute and Switzerland’s Federal Office of Culture.
“We are delighted to work with Gerald Salmina and his team. Of course, it is a highlight that we are able to provide the sporting focal point of this documentary with Marco Odermatt, currently the most successful skier world-wide, but we are also looking forward to other world-class athletes such as Jasmine Flury, Cyprien Sarrazin, Dominik Paris, Marco Schwarz, Conny Hütter, Sofia Goggia and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie,” says Ascot Elite producer Roger Kaufmann.
The feature will be distributed in Austria by Panda Film and in Switzerland by Ascot Elite Entertainment.
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