NO MAN'S LAND
(Radical Films Incorporated)
Melissa Larsen
(October 13, 1998)
Sponsors:
Riders: Victoria Jealouse, Morgan LaFonte, Julie Zell, Circe Wallace, Tina Basich, and Shannon Dunn.
Comments:
I don�t believe in gender separatism. I�ve never been a big fan of the editing choices made by most ski cinematographers, and when I�m getting pumped to ride, Sarah McLachlan is the last thing I want playing on my radio. So I found it difficult to suspend my personal biases while viewing No Man�s Land, "the first all-women skiing and snowboarding film ever!" Or, as the press release also put it, "An Odyssey of women, passion, spirit, and mountains."
The primary excuse for the conspicuous absence of females in this season�s major snowboarding flicks is that nearly all women�s riding footage was either shot or purchased (Circe Wallace�s segment was originally shot for Standard Films) by No Man�s director, Christian Begin to make this film. To Mr. Begin�s credit, this is not a Hips That Rip part two. Shot mostly in Whistler and Alaska, and entirely in 16 mm, the cinematography is of the highest professional quality. The movie features Victoria Jealouse, Morgan LaFonte, Julie Zell, Circe Wallace, Tina Basich, and Shannon Dunn, among many others, as well as some of today�s most ruling female free-skiers, and the caliber of riding in each segment is impressive enough to be in any movie out.
The annoyance factor kicks in during the Warren Miller ski-movie-style cheese-gnar voice overdubs in between and during riding footage. While this is inane and distracting enough, it becomes almost unbearable when the voice-overs are all answers to the same question, "What is it to be female and an athlete?" Once is fine. Beyond that and it ends up coming off like a motivational, you go girl, self-help video for chicks who are afraid to charge�which, I would imagine, isn�t the image most of the featured athletes would portray, given the choice.
Take the talking out, and maybe the Lilith Fair soundtrack, and what�s left is good footage of some of the best freeriding going down in the world of female snowboarding and skiing. That alone makes it worth seeing.
Length: 47 minutes
Film Type: 16 mm
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