Steven Sander is the director of a new documentary, Two Swimmers, which is being shown on More4 on June 13th. Go here for Talk To Me, which preceeds it on More4
On August 16th 2005 I stood on the deck of the fishing boat, the Viking Princess, waiting to record the moment when my friend, Timothy Denyer, attempted to swim the English Channel and achieve a life long dream.
My inspiration was FourDocs. I wanted to produce a short film for the launch of this new online channel and Tim's swim provided me with the perfect opportunity. I could not have imagined how the day would unfold. Supported by family, friends and his coach, Mark Rickhuss, Tim had overcome a debilitating back injury to walk again. Over several years, Mark, had watched Tim grow from a boy into a man as he assisted his recovery. The Channel swim attempt was to be the culmination of their efforts.
My aim was to cover the event as a visual poem dedicated to Tim's endurance and the majesty of the sea. I wanted to convey the monotony of open water swimming and the vulnerability of a human being, alone with his thoughts, in the vastness of the ocean. But events conspired to ultimately change the tone of the film in a very poignant way. What I discovered was an intense bond between coach and athlete, and the extreme dedication necessary to achieve a goal.
With Tim struggling, Mark swam with his protégé for the last 100m into the French shore. Together they completed the challenge, but as they returned to the boat, Mark had a sudden heart attack and died in Tim's arms. The coach had been selfless in his goal to help Tim swim the Channel. Everyone that day was deeply shocked but moved by the experience.
As for my film, I now had a story that demanded a longer treatment - no matter how hard I tried to limit myself to four minutes! I competed a 30 minute cut in the spring of 2006 and was fortunate to have the film selected to screen at the first Britdoc festival in Oxford that year - ironically as part of the FourDocs sponsored short documentary competition. It was a privilege to see my film with an audience after its humble beginnings and I was further delighted when More4 expressed an interest in broadcasting the film on their channel!
As a tribute to Mark and as a record for his family, I am pleased that the film will now have a wider audience. The experience has reinforced my feeling that documentary is one of the most powerful mediums for telling stories, especially when they are true stories, and that, whether making a film for FourDocs or anyone else, a good story counts.
Steven graduated from Cambridge University in 1999 and moved into the film industry as a runner at Union Commercials/Union Pictures and Natural Nylon Entertainment in London. Since then he's gained representation as a TV commercials director with Quiet Storm Films, working for clients such as BT, Nokia, Lynx and BMW Mini Cooper. His first short film Screen Kiss won the DepicT! 2005 Audience Award at the Bristol International Short Film Festival (www.depict.org) and the Capital FX Short Film Award 2006. In January 2007, Steven completed work on a series of short documentaries for Channel 4's 3 Minute Wonder strand.