IRISH PREMIERE
This is the story of Martin Strel, the four-time world record holding endurance swimmer, and his absurdly ambitious attempt to be the first person to swim the world’s most hostile and dangerous river, the mighty Amazon. Part world-class sporting event, part circus sideshow, we follow the eccentric and celebrated Slovenian Strel 3,375 miles over 66 days on history’s longest and most perilous swim. Overweight, a heavy drinker, and pushing 53 years of age, Strel is an unlikely superman. His handpicked crew of faith healers, outsiders and drunks watch him battle his many demons as he swims day after day, mile after mile, going slowly more and more off the rails. Framed by the crisis-ridden spectacular Amazonian Rain forest, humorous, dark and compelling, this is a film of Hertzogian proportions. 2009 Sundance: World Cinema Cinematography Award