“Run Free” And “Mira Rai” Headline Reel Wild 2016
Film festival brings the most internationally acclaimed trail running films to New Zealand
After an incredibly successful inaugural event last year, Reel Wild – The Kiwi Trail Running Film Festival, is back,
bigger and better, with a brand new line-up of films that showcase the best trails and trail runners in the world.
We’re so excited we’re not even going to wait another paragraph before talking about our main headliner: “RUN FREE – THE
TRUE STORY OF CABALLO BLANCO”. The documentary featuring the legend himself will premiere for the first time in New
Zealand at the Reel Wild film festival in Auckland.
RUN FREE tells the story of Micah True, the enigmatic character and now trail running legend at the heart of Chris
MacDougall’s bestseller book “Born to Run”. The film will premiere in New Zealand at Reel Wild, just four years after
Caballo Blanco died doing what he loved the most – running on the trails.
We are also very proud to bring MIRA to New Zealand. The movie tells the story of Mira Rai, a spirited Nepali village
girl who is now well on her way to becoming one of the world’s best mountain runners.
The stunning line-up also includes the touching short “The Last Time I Heard True Silence”, winner of Best Short at the
Trail Running Film Festival 2015. Alongside these, “Life on the Fells”, “Wind Drinkers”, and “Dedicated” (about trail
runner Sage Canaday) are some of the other shorts to get the space they deserve on the big screen. For full details on
the line-up, visit: http://bit.ly/reelwildauckland2016
The festival will start on Friday evening, with a very special screening of FIFTY, the documentary about the biggest
feat of endurance ever achieved on New Zealand soil, which saw Kiwi Mal Law climb 50 mountains and run 50 marathons on
50 consecutive days, for mental health. A long-time supporter of Reel Wild, Mal Law will be attending the event as a
speaker and special guest and will also lead the Reel Wild Run on Sunday morning.
After a sold out inaugural event last year, with a full house at the Hopetoun Alpha, Reel Wild has now found a new home
at the Academy Cinema.
This is a rare opportunity for trail runners to come together as a community outside of organised trail events, leaving
the muddy shoes at home and having the chance to share trail tales with friends.
“Feedback from last year’s event proved that trail runners want these opportunities to come together outside of races.
We’re either too nervous at race starts or too tired at race finishes to revel in the wonders of our shared passion so
it’s good to don some clean clothes and have the chance to talk about it over a beer and some movies with people who
love it just as much as we do,” says Steven Blackburn, co-director of Reel Wild.
“We are really excited to be bringing these films to New Zealand, especially ‘Run Free’ and ‘Mira Rai’, which have been
collecting international awards and recognitions all over the globe. New Zealand really deserves these films on a big
screen,” he adds. “Academy is the perfect venue for it, with world-class projection equipment, comfortable seats, food
and drink… I mean, what’s not to like?”
Event details
Location: Academy Cinema, Auckland
Date and time: May 13 – May 14, 2016 (with optional trail run in the Waitakere Ranges on May 15)
Tickets: $60 plus booking fee
Website: www.reelwild.co.nz
To purchase tickets or find out about screenings, visit: http://bit.ly/buyreelwildtickets
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