The trailer for Australian filmmaker Matty Hannon’s documentary The Road to Patagonia, shot over 16 years and charting Hannon’s solo adventure from the top of Alaska to the tip of Patagonia, has been released, ahead of the film’s theatrical release in April 2024.
Following a sold-out world premiere at Byron Bay International Film Festival this year, Q&As with Hannon and cinematographer Heather Hillier will also take place across metro and regional cinemas in VIC, NSW, QLD, ACT, TAS and WA between 14 February and 27 April next year.
The film, which has already won awards, including the Audience Choice Award at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and Florida Surf Film Festival, is described as ‘a stunning, intimate and unflinching series of love letters within a documentary – firstly a love between two people, and secondly between humanity and the Earth’.
As per the film’s blurb:
‘Follow Hannon on an incredible solo adventure, to surf the west coast of the Americas by motorbike, from the top of Alaska to the tip of Patagonia. But deep in the wilderness – alone with the wolves and the bears – the journeyer’s plans unexpectedly fall to pieces.
‘After losing everything, and on the cusp of quitting he meets the girl of his dreams, a permaculture farmer named Heather Hillier who throws caution to the wind and sells her urban-farm to buy a bike of her own. Together riding south, the duo meet with Zapatista rebels, Amazonian shamans and Mapuche leaders whose salient words crack the adventurers’ cultural veneer, leaving them with existential questions.
‘The 50,000km surfing odyssey becomes beautifully complicated by their decision to downshift from motorcycles to horseback, presenting a relational approach to the breathtaking landscapes and a host of challenges that ultimately become extremely rewarding.’
Find out more about screening and Q&A dates on the film’s website.
