Adventure Travel Films - Central Asia, Iran and More.

Prior to focusing on writing, I shot and edited short travel films, mainly in Central Asia, that screened at over 30 international festivals.

A growing archive of footage from these projects is available for licensing on my Pond5 page, ranging from Uzbekistan’s deserts and Mongolia’s steppes to the forests and rivers of the Tuva Republic, where I spent several months self-shooting the pilot episodes for Crossing Siberia.

A shaman in traditional clothes with his eyes closed speaking to the forest spirits.

A Tuvan mountaineer wearing blue trousers and red jacket sat on a rock posing for the camera.

A man paddling a blue packraft descends the Yenisei River with snow-covered mountains behind.

Two backpack-wearing hikers ascending a steep hill above a pine forest in Tuva.

Mid-shot of desert runner Jamie running along a sandy desert track in southern Kazakhstan.

A desert runner, followed by a jeep, runs through the Saryesik-Atyrau desert in Kazakhstan.

Photographer shoots Jamie whilst he is sat in the truck in a Kazakh desert.

A desert runner and a photographer talk next to a jeep in a remote Kazakh desert.

All That’s There (2018)

Jamie Maddison, a British ultra-runner with a fascination for exploring remote corners of Central Asia, attempts a 70-mile crossing of the Saryesik-Atyrau Desert on the southern shore of Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan — Co-director/Editor

A rock climber with equipment climbs up a steep granite rock face in Pakistan.

GoPro footage screenshot of Max Fisher assembling a portaledge somewhere on a rocky Pakistani cliff face.

Screenshot of an interview with James Moneypenny, a British alpinist and climber.

Screenshot of alpinist Max Fisher during an interview.

Tangra Tower: In the Spirit of Cory Hall (2016)

James Monypenny (UK) and Max Fisher (Canada) venture to the Karakorum Mountains of Pakistan to climb a new route in memory of their friend Cory Hall, who passed away in a tragic climbing accident while on a motorbike-Pan-American climbing odyssey — Producer/Editor/Co-interviewer

The Steppe of Misfortune (2015)

In 2014, ultra-runner Jamie Maddison undertook the first-ever expedition to cross Kazakhstan’s Betpak-Dala—the ‘Steppe of Misfortune’—on foot. Running 190 miles over eight grueling days from the western edge of Lake Balkhash to the Sarysu River, the journey pushed both runner and support crew to their limits, battling fuel shortages and complex navigation across abandoned military tracks. Featured on the internationally broadcast Wild Spirits TV show — Producer / Editor

Damavand: An Iranian Dream (2015)

A ski-mountaineering team from the UK sets out to climb Iran’s highest mountain, Mount Damavand (5,610m). As the team, led by London-based Iranian Shirin Shabestari, ascends the mountain, the film examines the pivotal role mountaineering played in her upbringing and reveals just how much this summit means to her. Produced in collaboration with Hot Aches Productions, BMC TV, Trek + Mountain Magazine, and Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports — Director / Assistant Editor

A Portrait of Orozbek (2014)

An in-depth portrait of Orozbek, a Tajik-Kyrgyz hunter and herder living in the remote Pamir Mountains of eastern Tajikistan near the Afghan border. As Matthew and Jamie spend time with Orozbek and the surrounding nomadic Kyrgyz communities, the region’s hidden wonders reveal themselves; from ancient mines and archaeological discoveries to a mysterious organic painkiller. Winner of the Best Environmental Documentary, Mountain Film Festival 2015 (USA) — Co-producer/Director/Editor

A desert run in the Kyzyl Kum stands on a dirt track.

A desert runner running along the salty shores of Aydar Lake in Uzbekistan.

Mid-range shot of a man riding two camels in the Kyzyl Kum and a runner following behind.

Through Grains of Sand and Sun (2014)

An early experimental film focusing on a runner’s reflections of a camel-supported journey through the Kyzyl Kum Desert of Uzbekistan. It melds abstract moving visuals with an honest narrative inspired by the writings of desert explorer Wilfred Thesiger and Haruki Murakami’s own musings on running.

Wild Steppe (2013)

My first foray into documentary work was Wild Steppe, cobbled together from footage shot on a pocket camcorder during a two-week horseback ride in western Mongolia in 2012. We were completely clueless about how to ride, but under the tutelage of Alpamys, our Mongol-Kazakh guide and eagle hunter, we learned the essential skills needed for our 1,100km traverse of eastern Kazakhstan the following year.

Looking through the window of a propeller plane flying over the icy expanse of Antarctica.

An Antarctic visitor walking near McMurdo's Ice Runway with a backdrop of rocky peaks.

Google Earth satellite photo showing the Antarctic Continent from Outer Space.

A Soviet-era plane on the Ice Runway in Antarctica, with multiple tourists wandering around outside.

ExWeb Dispatches | Series 2: Antarctica | Episode 1: Hercules Inlet (2020)

Ryan Waters, ExWeb Ambassador and international mountain guide, together with Jaco Ottink and Paula Strengell head to Antarctica for a 52-day skiing expedition from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole.

Screenshot of Ryan Waters wearing cold weather clothing and towing a sled through broken-up North Pole pack ice.

Unusual photo showing an Arctic explorer wearing a red dry suit, towing his sled to an open stretch of water that he's about to swim across.

Mid-shot of two Antarctic explorers pulling their sleds through a snowy plateau.

Antarctic explorer crouched down next to his unpacked sled.

ExWeb Dispatches | Series 2: Antarctica | Episode 2: Skiing to the South Pole (2020)

Ryan, Jaco, and Paula journey to the South Pole, towing 100kg+ sleds, skiing in whiteout conditions, and battling headwinds.

Google Earth satellite image showing the Eurasian Continent.

The two summits of Mount Elbrus seen a few hundred metres below from a mountain hut.

Google Earth 3D close-up shot of Mount Elbrus' twin peaks with the saddle in the middle.

An Arctic explorer stood next to a sled joyously pumps his fists in the air as a plane flies away from him.

ExWeb Dispatches | Series 1: Elbrus | Episode 1: The Approach (2020)

Series 1 of ExWeb Dispatches teams up with international mountain guide and ExWeb Ambassador, Ryan Waters, to take a look at what it’s like to climb Elbrus: the highest peak in Europe.

Screenshot of climbers receiving rope tying instructions from a mountain guide, inside of a hut on Mount Elbrus.

Screenshot of a night timelapse in a mountain range, showing a big lake and the Milky Way.

A small group of mountaineers ascend up a snow slope in the fog on Mount Elbrus.

Google Earth 3D screenshot showing Mount Elbrus twin peaks.

ExWeb Dispatches | Series 1: Elbrus | Episode 2: The Ascent (2020)

Episode 2 covers the route of ascent up Elbrus with Ryan’s clients, in addition to a brief history of the first ascent of the peak’s east and west summit.

A drone shot flying through forested mountains with sunshine glowing on misty clouds.

A long trail of mountaineers on a fixed rope ascend up from Mount Elbrus' saddle to the summit.

A trail of alpine mountaineers ascend up the final short ridgeline leading to Mount Elbrus' summit.

Drone shot of seven mountaineers on the summit of Mount Elbrus on a crystal clear day.

ExWeb Dispatches | Series 1: Elbrus | Episode 3: Summit Day (2020)

The final episode of series 1 provides an insight into what it takes to reach the summit of Elbrus, starting early in the morning from the final bivouac hut, up to the 5,416m saddle, and the final ascent up the fixed lines leading to the summit.

Screenshot of an Antarctic explorer launching a giant kite to power their sled.

Antarctic explorers dig out a tent buried deep in snow.

A Spanish scientist pulls out a very long core sample from the Antarctic ice sheet.

A Spanish explorer in Antarctica jumps on to a kite-powered sled as it's flying along.

WindSled Dome Fuji Expedition (2019)

January 2019 saw the conclusion of WindSled’s Unexplored Dome Fuji expedition. The Spanish team of four, led by Ramón Larramendi, completed a 2,500km return journey from near to Novolazarevskaya base to Dome Fuji (3,768m) in 52 days traveling in a series of customized sleds with built-in living quarters and powered entirely by kites. Since the project’s inception in 1999, the WindSleds have been used on 11 expeditions, covering more than 20,000km in Antarctica, Greenland, and Canada.

A Pakistani military helicopter flies past a glacier near Broad Peak, Pakistan.

Screenshot of a Polish mountaineer looking on as Pakistani porters assemble their tent in the Karakorum.

A Polish cameraman on the slopes of K2 walking past his Advanced Base Camp.

Screenshot from a Polish film showing multiple mules laden with climbing equipment and heading into Pakistan's Karakorum.

Filming in the Karakorum: Behind the Scenes (2019)

Broad Peak, directed by Leszek Dawid and based a true story, is the world’s first feature film shot above 5,600m. The biopic focuses on Maciej Berbeka, a legendary Polish mountaineer who, together with his climbing partner Tomasz Kowalski, disappeared during the first winter ascent of Broad Peak (8,047m) in March 2013.

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Short Films