Karen Darke and Catherine Spencer
DOUBLE BILL OF FILMS IMPOSSIBLE & VALEUR
PLUS Q&A WITH PARALYMPIAN KAREN DARKE
& FORMER ENGLAND RUGBY CAPTAIN CATHERINE SPENCER
In association with Mountain Pro Magazine
TIME / DATES: FRI 20 MARCH 21.00
TICKET PRICES: FULL £8.50 / CONCESSIONS £6
TICKETS - ONLINE AT THE SHOWROOM OR CALL BOX OFFICE 0114 275 7727
It would be hard to pack more inspiration into 90 minutes. Former England Rugby Captain Catherine Spencer presents the short film Valeur about her attempt to climb her first 4,000m mountains for The Endure Foundation. Followed by Silver Medal winning Paralympic Cyclist Karen Darke and award-winning adventure sports film director, Lukasz Warzecha, presenting the premiere of their new film, IMPOSSIBLE about Karen's Ironman triathlon attempt.
The film session will be approximately 45 minutes followed by a 45 minute audience Q&A with these two remarkable women about their careers and achievements.
WATCH THE IMPOSSIBLE TRAILER
ABOUT 'IMPOSSIBLE'
A documentary about overcoming challenges that seem 'impossible'. The film examines how we psychologically tackle apparently insurmountable challenges through the eyes of some of Britain’s most renowned adventurers and athletes. Karen Darke provides the backdrop to the film as she tackles an ironman challenge alongside Guiness record-breaking Spanish athlete Jose Manuel for his 90th ironman in a year. This is punctuated with interviews and insights about motivation and resilience to keep going towards far-reaching goals, with the World’s Greatest Living Explorer Ranulph Fiennes, multiple World Ironman Champion Chrissie Wellington, founder of Climbers Against Cancer, John Ellison and respected sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters.
About Karen Darke
Karen Darke was a keen runner and mountaineer, then at the age of 21 she fell from a cliff and became paralysed from the waist down. Determined not to let her condition get the better of her, Karen embarked on a series of testing adventures. Within three years of her accident she was hand-biking over the Himalaya, a 1,200 mile trip that many said was impossible. Since then her adventures have included the Japanese archipelago by hand-bike, sea kayaking a 1,200 mile length of the Cana-Alaska coastline, crossing Greenland by sit-ski, and climbing El Capitan in Yosemite, California. Karen
She says the 4,000 pull ups required to get to the top of the El Cap route felt easy in comparison to the mental obstacles. However, it was perfect preparation for what was to come next... making it to the London 2012 Paralympics in the sport of handcycling, as part of the British Cycling Team where she won a Silver medal in the 16k time trial course and then shared Bronze in the road race, after crossing the line holding hands with her British team mate Rachel Morris.
Following an epic cycling trip with friends to the Himalayas in the summer, she is now training again with the British Cycling team aiming for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
The film IMpossible - funding through Kickstarter - chronicles her attempt to complete the Mallorca Ironman - a 2.4 mile (3.86 km) swim, 112 mile (180.25km) bike ride and a marathon 26.2 miles (42.2km) run using arm power alone, swimming in a wetsuit, using a handbike to cycle, and a racing wheelchair to run. Find out more on Karen Darke's website.
About Catherine Spencer
Catherine Spencer retired from International rugby in 2011 following a very successful career. Following her first cap in 2004 Catherine went on to win 63 caps for England, scored 18 times for her country and captained the team for over 3 years. Catherine took part in 8 Six Nations Competitions winning 6 of 8 and captained her team to 3 championship titles.
Catherine also led her country to a European cup title, 2 Nations Cup tournament victories and led England to the World Cup final held on home soil in England in 2010. England lost narrowly to New Zealand 13 points to 10 however the home World Cup shot Women's Rugby in to the limelight and their media presence escalated. As captain Catherine was at the forefront of this and thrived as a leader throughout this time.
Since retiring from the international game Catherine continues to engage with the Media and has both commentated and appeared within the studio at a number of international matches. Catherine is now also Patron of the charity Tag Rugby Trust; she sits on the Grants Board of the Women’s Sport Trust and is an ambassador for Legends Rugby.
Spurred on by her father’s words of “Ordinary people, doing extraordinary things”, Catherine has embarked on a new challenge to inspire and empower women globally. VALEUR, is a short film which follows in Catherine’s footsteps as she attempted to climb her first two 4,000+ metre mountains the Breithorn (4,164m) and Allalinhorn (4,027m) in Switzerland in 48hrs in support of The Endure Foundation and it’s six charity partners - Oxfam, Walking with the Wounded, O2 Think Big, Renewable World, Blue Ventures and The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Find out more about Catherine on the Women's Sport Trust website.
About Lukasz Warzecha
Over the past five years Peak District based Lukasz Warzecha (LW Images) has carved out a formidable reputation as one of the top adventure photographers in the world, living everyday life by his own words that 'This is the most exciting time to be a photographer ever!'
From documenting the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cups, shooting portraits of Reinhold Messner at the London's Royal Geographical Society or mountain biking in the Outer Hebrides (cover story of The Guardian Travel) to filming short feature films (his ’Sub-Zero’ EpicTV series has reached over 2M views) his work spans across a whole spectrum of outdoor activities.
Over the past couple of years he has photographed on four continents on assignment for National Geographic, The North Face, WL GORE, Mountain Equipment, Petzl and Black Diamond (among others).
Lukasz has his own studio in Derbyshire. This is your chance to find out what it's really like to have the "Life of a Pro". Is it all about glamour and jet setting around the world? No doubt Lukasz will be setting the story straight, illustrating his tales with his amazing images and films.
WATCH THE TRAILER A documentary about overcoming challenges that seem 'impossible'. The film examines how we psychologically tackle apparently insurmountable challenges through the eyes of some of Britain’s most...
Valeur is a short film which follows in former England Rugby Captain Catherine Spencer’s footsteps as she attempted to climb her first two 4,000+ metre mountains the Breithorn (4,164m) and Allalinhorn (4,027m) in...
