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Sand Roads

sand roads

Emerald Films, The Valerio Daniel de Simoni Association, Invisible Republic, Label Distribution,  Film Commision Torino Piemonte and the Italian Ministry of Culture warmly invite you to a presentation from the filmmaking team who will make the Italo-Australian feature documentary SAND ROADS,

entering production in the second halfof 2024

In the summer of 2010, three 20-something Sydney boys set off on a great adventure: crossing Europe, Africa and Australia on quad-bikes, covering 50,000 km and entering their names in the Guinness World Record to raise funds for the charity Oxfam.
Valerio Daniel De Simoni, Jamie Kenyon and Kris ‘Teddy’ Davant are three friends with different personalities but a common goal: to face this journey as an initiation rite on the path to adulthood.
On 10 August 2010 they depart from the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul which separates Europe from the Asian continent. To beat the record, the three motorcyclists will have to cross three continents, thirty-four countries, and travel for twelve months in complete autonomy. They have with them a small video camera and the promise to document each moment, no matter what happens.
After crossing Europe, Valerio, Jamie and Ted embark from Palermo for Tunisia reaching Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and finally Malawi. The path is very hard and despite the great friendship that binds them, tensions and conflicts explode violently between the three boys throughout the journey. The scenery and experiences are breathtaking. The promise to film and recount their journey is never abandoned. The camera in the hands of the boys is always on and continues to record, kilometer after kilometer.
On the day of departure from the capital of Malawi, something happens that tragically changes the meaning of their adventure. During a police chase, a runaway car overwhelms one of the quads. After three days suspended between life and death in the Lilongwe hospital, Valerio dies in flight in the sky of Zimbabwe, during the desperate attempt to transport him to South Africa.

It is March 13, 2011.

Despite the accident, Ted and Jamie finish the journey and set the Guinness World Record – for Valerio. A few months after Valerio’s death, his diary written during the expedition is found and published. And now for the first time, the original footage and the diary will come together in a documentary that sets the characters on a new chapter of their journey in life.
Watch the sizzle reel here: Sand Roads (pw: SandRoads2024)

The documentary is a true creative collaboration between our two countries – the writers/directors and animation director are Italian; the editor and cinematographer are Australian; and the researcher/translator is Australian with Italian descent. The director Lorenzo Conte has a familial connection to the family of Italo-Australian Valerio, the son of Vittoria Pasquini.

La Sarraz Pictures is an established and respected Italian production company with many credits in award-winning festival films and animations since 2004. Its productions have been showcased throughout Europe and the world at festivals including Venice, Berlin, Locarno, New York and Shanghai. La Sarraz has two Australian co-productions in its credits.

Emerald Films was established in 1992 and has over 100 hours of credits in festival and television documentary, children’s factual TV, official co-productions, comedy-drama and corporate/community video work. Emerald Films has won many international awards and its documentaries have been showcased at numerous festivals around the world including Sydney, Melbourne, Palm Springs, London, New York, Toronto and Berlin International Film Festival.

Invisible Republic is a solo operator production company established in 2012 producing feature films and art related projects for instillation and screen. The company, as a rule, develops its own materials and partners with co-producers for physical production or co-production. In turn, Invisible Republic will equally co-produce or Executive Produce with other producers or creative teams in Australia or overseas either assisting with finance or creative development.

 

Limited seats booking: HERE