Banff Radical Reels: Feel the Hill Filmmakers Discuss Longboarding

By National Geographic Digital Media's Amy Bucci

As the opening credits roll for Feel the Hill, the audience is shown someone sawing a kitchen cutting board apart and gluing the pieces onto everyday gardening gloves. We later learn these special gloves are essential gear for a unique extreme sport called longboarding.

This film, a People's Choice finalist in the Banff Mountain Film Festival's Radical Reels category, was made by 19-year-olds Jeremy Comte and Alexandre Auray. What's amazing is that Jeremy and Alex began this project when they were just 17 years old.

The film introduces us to several expert longboarders in each discipline of longboarding: slalom, downhill, footwork, and sliding. Most scenes are filmed in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Q: Why did you decide to make this movie?

Jeremy: We started making short films with skateboarding, but then Jeremy started longboarding in elementary school. There weren't that many movies about it, so we decided to do it. Most people associate longboarding with just the downhill style. I wanted to show all the other styles like sliding and dancing as well. Everyone can enjoy longboarding because you can find your own style.