Gerald Salmina
Gerald Salmina tells exclusive stories about those who have dared to be extreme and overcome hurdles to achieve their dreams. His extensive experience with extreme outdoor adventures and inspiring life feats made him becoming the storyteller of a sometimes hidden but always stunning world. Gerald’s natural talent as a motion picture director enables him to get right to the heart of the thrilling and because of its danger unrepeatable extreme action playing with mother natures’ pride.
In a world which is increasingly sanitised and homogenous, there are still people who are prepared to push themselves to physical and emotional limits. Gerald’s film work provides a dramatic widescreen insight into this extreme environment, giving a view usually reserved for only a privileged few.
Working as a producer, director, DOP, scriptwriter, directing cameraman, music art director and editor Gerald Salmina got a legendary reputation within the extreme sport scene. During the last three years he was focused on producing documentary films in the genre of Base jumping and mountain sports. Storylines of Gerald Salmina tell about the inspiration and reasoning of the athletes, and observe the interplay between the mind and the body. A scientific and emotional basis will be sought after to render the appropriate insight. Many of the athletes Gerald Salmina is trying to work with can all be classified as “visionaries” within their disciplines, which have continually redefined the limits of their sport.
In this way he is actually producing movies about mountain-visionaries... the visions mutated then become the active challenge... the lure, appeal and attraction give rise to an adventure without bounds … to learn more about the human nature, about oneself. Many times the action may only be executed once because nobody wants to risk his life a second time.
The inspiration of bringing these movie themes to life was born due to close friendships with extreme-sport athletes such as Felix Baumgartner (BASE jumping), Björn Dunkerbeck (windsurf champion), Axel Naglich (extreme ski climber), Bernd Zangerl (boulder climber) and Herbert Ranggetiner (sport climber). Due to mere ignorance the physical and mental achievements of these athletes are not cognisable and dismissed as “madness”. These athletes all radiate a common denominator: their intense love of nature and to explore the dynamics of their minds and bodies. It is as much a “joining forces with nature”, the mountains and the human body. With this underlying consciousness the visions fall into place and the borders of motion are redefined. The goal of Gerald Salmina always has been to show fascinating, unique visual images substantiated with the thoughts and motivations, highs and lows giving insight into this usually antisocial activity.
Being himself a former extreme sport athlete in water and mountain sports his company Planet Watch Film was able to obtain an outrageous know how to create authentic and thrilling stories no matter how rough the outdoor conditions will be.
The dream of flying, waves with an archaic elemental force and the spirits of mountains. The myths of mountains, which are the benchmark for a selected few. Topics presented in front of a setting which even Hollywood accepts as the perfect scenario not to be improved with the highest digital effort. Thus the focus of Gerald Salmina lies on extreme sports within the bounds of the vertical sphere.
