A Fire Within Promo - My Dream to be the World Champion in Freestyle Kayaking
A Fire Within
A Fire Within documents one woman's dream to become a World Champion. Raw and real, it is a journey of self-discovery; a colourful and entertaining story of an inspiring woman on a mission to be the best she can be.
Former professional kayaker and award winning documentary film maker Polly Green’s latest film offers a fresh and unique story that is a deeply personal account.
At age 40, Polly has decided to come out of sporting retirement to win the World 2011 Freestyle White-water Kayaking Championships, a title that has eluded her in the past. After competing as a world class white-water kayaker for 10 years, Polly walked away from the sport in 2005 to reinvent herself as a filmmaker and founded her now established production company, Flair Films.
Reflecting Polly’s vibrant personality, the film will display a collection of experiences and characters that help her along the way. From viewing Polly dancing in her living room to consulting psychics and world leading neuro-scientists; Polly’s story is one of many layers. More than just a comeback tale, it follows her holistic approach to fulfill a balanced lifestyle while also addressing issues of age, gender and culture. Woven into this tale, will be some of her most intimate moments; this perhaps for her, being the biggest challenge of all.
There may even be a love story, maybe.
A Fire Within encourages us to be adventurous; to believe in the beauty of our dreams and to realise anything is possible. With the ultimate goal of winning the world champs, it is also about a journey; a journey to be the best not only on the water but also in the arena of life.
A Fire Within also has a community outreach focus. Flair Films will be working closely with the My Hero Project, a non-profit organisation with a mission to “use media and technology to celebrate the best of humanity and to empower young people to realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world”. http:/www.myhero.com Polly’s mentoring role with the My Hero Project and her film will act as a catalyst to inspire young and old to follow their own journeys. And the art of multimedia storytelling will make this film more accessible to youth.
Promotion and distribution of the documentary, A Fire Within includes a fully articulated multi-platform campaign, generating a community that will follow Polly’s journey online in the lead up to the World Championships. Cultivating an online interactive audience through these multi-platforms has already begun. Blogs, video diaries, social networking sites and YouTube will help share our project with the widest possible audience.
The documentary will be made for theatrical release including a nation wide travelling tour that includes community outreach with screenings in schools. It will be entered into film festivals world wide and include online DVD sales and online pay per view.
A Fire Within is more than a film, it is a brand and a movement that encourages people to follow their own dreams.
Flair Films will also utilise traditional print media sources including newspapers, magazines and targeted television exposure. Polly has already featured strongly in local newspapers and prevalent magazines including HER Business and Success (November 2009). She recently appeared on national NZ television for her most recent award winning film, Soft Power Health. The interview can be viewed at: http://ow.ly/15f6d"
Flair Films is aligned with the successful Public Relations agency, Adage Business.
A Fire Within follows on from a successful track record of films including Polly's first film Nomads which in 2006 won numerous awards and was an official selection in over 30 film festivals world wide. Polly has filmed in over 35 countries, and her footage has been aired on ABC World news, TVNZ, and New Zealand’s TV 3.
Flair Films vision is: “to inspire, empower and help create positive change in the world through film”. Please check out our website http://www.flairfilms.com for more information.
Flair Films seeks financial assistance to fund the independent feature length documentary.
8 Feb, 2010 - The Gisborne Herald- Fire is back — ‘I’m going to win’
Kristine Walsh
POLLY Green’s mate reckoned that if she started training now, she could be in the top 10 at the 2011 whitewater kayaking freestyle world championships, in Germany.
He should know — German kayaker Arnd Schaeftlein is considered a legend in the sport. But Green says she did not receive his praise with much grace.
“I’m not interested in being in the top 10,” says the US-born sportswoman and filmmaker, who settled in Gisborne in 2007.
“I’m going to win.”
A bold claim but, if anyone’s going to make it, she is. This is the woman who last year told The Gisborne Herald she wanted her second short documentary — Soft Power Health, about kayaker Dr Jessie Stone’s humanitarian aid efforts in Uganda — to be an award-winner. The film was last month named jury winner of best action sports film at California’s Mammoth Mountain Film Festival.
She has a strong foundation to work from. As a fine arts student at the University of Colorado, she was already a hardcore sportswoman when she took up freestyle kayaking in the early 1990s. In 2003, she was fifth at the world champs in Austria.
Though she gave up competing two years later, Green believes her experience and ability to work under pressure will stand her in good stead.
Taking a top place next year will not be easy. In 2009 the championship in Switzerland was won by US kayaker Emily Jackson, at 19 half Green’s age.
“But it’s certainly do-able so I’m stoked that my sponsors, Jackson Kayaks and Kokatat Watersports Wear, are back on board.”
Green is already doing her part — a seven-hour-a-day, six-day-a-week schedule that combines flatwater training on the Waimata River with cycling, yoga and meditation.
To supplement that she plans regular trips starting this week to Rotorua’s Kaituna River which, with its grade five rating, will give her the whitewater she needs to perfect her tricks.
“But because I don’t really want to leave Gisborne, much of my training will be on flat water — which means a lot of the work I do will be mental,” she says.
Schaeftlein will coach her via the internet. Today she is in Auckland for a session with neuroscientist/sports coach Kerry Spackman, whose book The Winner’s Bible is a source of inspiration to her.
She will also appear on tomorrow’s 8.20am edition of the Sunrise television programme to talk about both her sport and her filmmaking.
She has a meeting booked with the New Zealand Film Commission to talk about funding for A Fire Burning, the feature film she intends to make documenting her comeback into whitewater kayaking.
The first shoot for the film has already been done and Green has assembled a team that includes co-producer/co-writer Darnelle Timbs and co-directer/co-photographer Jo Tito, with high-profile Gisborne-based US duo Peter and Sarah Dixon on board as mentors.
“You have to approach these things with a sense of humour, so the film should be quite funny as well as being very personal,” Green says as she buckles on her helmet for the day’s training session.
“It will be very raw, very real but should have a few life lessons along the way.”
Polly Green in part blames The Gisborne Herald for her coming out of retirement, after it reported comments she made last year about not having won the world championship she coveted.
“Seeing it in black and white brought it home that I hadn’t achieved my goal to be the world No. 1 and I knew that if I didn’t go for it, I’d regret it.
“So now I’m absolutely committed. The fire is back.”
Then I went to Rotorua where I starting my first training back on the river. Training was filled with both ups and downs. It was great to be back on the river again, but I also experienced alot of frustration. Its been over a year since I have even been in a kayak so I felt really rusty and uncoordinated. And have high expectations of myself, knowing what I can do and am capable of.
I am super lucky to be getting coaching from Arnd Schaeftlein who brings to the table years of experience and a German no nonsense manner that is kicking me into shape whether I like it or not. He gave me no choice in whether or not I was going to compete in the Wairoa Extreme Race. He said "Polly you will race and that's all there is to it". I was apprehensive as I hadn't been down the Wairoa in 5 years and hadn't even been down the Kaituna river yet. So it was strait into the frying pan and luckily German paddler Andi Uhl was there before my start and gave me a rundown of the lines for the time trial. I surprised myself and had pretty good lines and then found myself getting ready for the first of the head to head races. Once again I had good lines and kept advancing through my heats until I was in the final race. The whole way through the race I was focused on having good lines and having fun which I did, without focusing on the outcome. I ended up narrowly missing out on the win but felt great about my performance especially coming right off the couch so to speak.
So I think my lessons from last week are to be entirely in the moment and not focusing to much on the outcome.
We also began filming last week for a Fire Burning and I am starting to edit the trailer this week. We got some amazing POV shots thanks to Arnds new little Hero POV camera which is tiny but delivers amazing quality.
I am super grateful to my amazing production team and excited about the start of this journey! And also have to thank Andi Uhl who carried my boat up after each of my races which was a massive help and I appreciated so much, and was to me a true example of being a winning person, helping me when he didn't have to and going the extra mile. I am feeling so supported and it makes all the difference in the world!
