Just what is it like to film hanging above a kilometre-high sheer drop? It’s one of the many questions that adventure and extreme location cameraman Keith Partridge had time to reflect on recently when he returned to film above Venezuela’s Angel Falls – the highest uninterrupted waterfall in the world.
“You sometimes think you'll never go back to a place that holds such strong memories and if you do that it'll never be as good as the first time,” said Keith. “However, the Angel Falls and the Tepuis of Venezuela always have the ability to impress. I had to pinch myself every time I looked down the 20+ second free-fall drop.”
And audiences at this year’s Peebles Outdoor Film Festival (27-29 Jan) at the Eastgate Theatre will have a chance to hear more about this and many more of Keith’s adventures when one of the world’s most respected adventure cameramen makes a headline appearance on Sat 28 Jan.
A veteran of more than 60 expeditions around the globe, and one of the world’s most famous practitioners of what remains a rare trade, Keith is very much the go-to-guy for filming in the planet’s more hostile locations. He has pushed deep into unexplored caves in Papua New Guinea, reached the highest point on earth, hunted with golden eagles in Mongolia, not to mention abseiled the Angel Falls in search of the perfect shot.
Productions in which Keith has been a key player have notched dozens of international film awards – including the documentary feature film of Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void – two BAFTAs and an International Emmy. Keith is renowned in the industry for a multi-skilled background that has enabled him to develop shooting techniques that take viewers to the very steepest of rock faces, the most challenging of ice cliffs, and brutally-remote locations.
In a training capacity, Keith is also a regular at the Banff Mountain Festival – the most prestigious festival of its kind in the world – where he runs workshops for budding adventure filmmakers. There’s certainly no better way to learn than from a man whose work has graced a host of programmes for the BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and many others.
Also an award-winning author, with his 2015 book The Adventure Game gaining many plaudits, an evening with Keith Partridge offers a unique opportunity to hear what it takes to film at the ends of the earth.
Keith Partridge headlines the Adventures from the Edge session at the Peebles Outdoor Film Festival on Sat 28 January, starts 6.30pm with a programme of short films. Copies of the full festival programme are available from Eastgate Theatre Box Office, or online at www.eastgatearts.com. Tickets available, 01725 725777, or online.
Full festival programme, http://www.eastgatearts.com/sites/default/files/Peebles%20Outdoor%20Film%20Festival_%202017.pdf