Director's Works
Allianz, Valentía Bajo Cero Tom Haines
Tom Haines is a filmmaker telling emotionally driven stories about human relationships. His narrative work has screened internationally at festivals such as BFI LFF, Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand and Berlin His character-led music videos for artists such as New Order, Baxter Dury and Jon Hopkins have won multiple UK MVA and Vimeo Staff Pick awards. Alongside commercial work for brands including Google and Land Rover, he develops long-form narrative projects through labs such as iFeatures and TorinoFilmLab. Born in London, he is now based in Northern Spain, where he recently directed the documentary “Valentia Bajo Cero” for Little Spain and Movistar.
This was a film about challenges, of discovering a world I knew little about. In capturing the challenges of being an elite athlete preparing for the Winter Olympics, I saw first hand how they overcome problems, how they push themselves in a discipline that is very solitary and demanding. They’re part of a team, but in it’s purist sense, it’s just them, working alone and trying to achieve their goals. Which as a writer and director, you can relate to with deep empathy. For the athletes their support system of family, friends, colleagues and professionals is what pulls them through and gives them the inner strength they need, up until showtime.
With a limited crew we spent some days at high altitude, tracking them, and trying to keep pace with their action. This was documentary making at breakneck speed, a crack dop who could ski, and within the all the action, finding moments of calm and introspection to offset the high energy visuals.
The teaser we made was enhanced with an amazing interpretation by rapper Tre Mission. his original spoken word piece harnessed the essence of our film and added a vibrancy and determination that, with the powerful original score, give it lift off.
