The Crash Reel for Sky Atlantic

Sky Atlantic is to showcase the world’s best documentary film makers in a variety of commissioned, acquired and co-produced feature length films.

The Crash Reel, the eye-popping, yet intimate story of American champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce is the latest addition to Sky Atlantic’s forthcoming documentary feature film strand.

The film, which opened this year’s Sundance Film Festival to huge critical acclaim, will receive its UK premiere at the upcoming Sheffield Doc/Fest alongside a Q&A with the film’s two-time Academy Award nominated director, Lucy Walker. A further London premiere will take place at the BFI on the 14th June and the movie will premiere exclusively to Sky customers later this year.

A hot contender for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Pearce took a massive fall during a training run on the half-pipe, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury. His tight-knit Vermont family flew to his side, and helped him rebuild his shattered life. Kevin’s determination and the unstinting support of family and friends meant he made huge strides in his recovery, but when he insisted he wanted to return to the sport he loved, his family objected, knowing that even a small blow to the head could kill him.

Using years of verité footage, Lucy Walker sets out to expose the potentially high price of participating in extreme action sports and sheds light on the alarming trend of athletes pushing the boundaries of their sports past the limit in their pursuit of sporting glory. What price do we pay for our passions? Just how much risk is too much?

Elaine Pyke, Director of Sky Atlantic, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to add Lucy Walker’s extraordinary film to our forthcoming documentary films strand. I defy you to watch The Crash Reel and not find yourself emotionally attached to Kevin Pearce and his amazing family. We’re setting out to tell iconic stories that grip and with the four films already on this wonderful slate, the season is shaping up to be one of the best collections of documentary films, from some greatest storytellers in the world.”

The new strand will showcase the world’s best documentary filmmakers in a variety of commissioned, acquired and co-produced feature length documentary films Sky stay. Up to twelve peak time landmark documentaries will form the backbone of the strand. With the ambition for Sky Atlantic to become the home of world-class documentary films and film makers, the brief is out to the world’s best documentary makers to come to the channel with bold ideas.