Known for his behind the camera work and production partnership that grew the Behind the Barriers series over the past four years, Sam Smith brought us cyclocross fans deep into the personal stories and lives behind the US pro racing scene with friend and project partner Jeremy Powers. Now that he felt that Behind the Barriers could stand on its own feet Sam has gone back to some projects that have been in the works for years, and is taking the time to develop new ventures. His most recent release is a biographic focus on Canadian mountain biker and sideburns aficionado Geoff Kabush, flashing back to his lead up to the 2010 XC World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec. While the project was put on hold with Smiths other projects, it manages to remain interesting and relevant, probably due to a unique story line and well put together photography.
Join us after the break for a Working Dogs trailer plus how you can get ahold of the digital download…
Still racing both cross country mountain and cyclocross four years on, Kabush is as interesting as ever to follow, in the last year taking home his 8th Canadian XC championship, 5th Canadian cross championship, the US Cup overall, as well as the Iceman Cometh. Smith’s documentary goes from amusing fast-paced commentary from Canadian Geoff about his world cup mtb day-to-day training and race prep, then overlaid with another set of Canadian athletes, a team of Quebecois sled dogs. The connection is a bit odd with its parallels of good breeding and hard work, but does well to break up the interviews and riding footage to tell a snapshot story of Kabush unconventional growing up and into racing cross country.
Working Dogs is available now for digital download of $10 from workingdogsfilm.com and will be screened in Winnipeg on October 23 alongside Kabush’s defense of his Canadian Cyclocross National title.
Sam Smith has also been working on some focused interview shorts under AcroVelo branding that can be viewed on his youtube channel. Sam tells us that he’ll keep producing the AcroVelo features sporadically, with the next few focusing on women cross racers during the upcoming cyclocross season. He’s also got a few other cross projects in the works and we’ll let you know when we hear more.
