Camper and Ciudad de la Luz, Europe’s most advanced film studio, have this afternoon announced the winners of their short film competition ‘A is for Action’.
The competition, which was open to students at the prestigious Alicante-based film school, has been run in parallel to Camper’s sponsorship of Emirates Team New Zealand in the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race, which starts from the city at the end of October.
The criteria for entry was very simple: the main protagonist should be either a Camper shoe or the brand and the backdrop, the city of Alicante and the films themselves no longer than five minutes and either fictional or documentary in style.
“Camper is by its very nature a very creative brand and the opportunity for us to link up with Europe’s leading film school, is another exciting step towards further increasing our audiovisual output. And, with Ciudad de la Luz based in the host city for the start of the race, this was an opportunity too good to miss,” commented Dalia Saliamonas, Project Director for Camper in the Volvo Ocean Race.
This is the first stage of a cinematographic ‘tour’ of the world; with Camper establishing associations with leading film schools at key stopovers during the 37,000-mile round the world race.
Luis Cruz, the Director of the Cuidad de la Luz film school, stated that he was excited to be collaborating ‘with this leading international footwear brand’. He went on to say: “We also have a strong international emphasis, and despite the fact that we are a relatively new enterprise, we have already signed more than ten projects with other international organisations. This association with Camper further underlines the our joint strengths of creativity and quality, which will make this an outstanding project in its own right.”
The five-strong judging panel, that included representatives from Ciudad de la Luz, Camper and the British production company, Wing Productions, voted the following films as winners of the competition:
Overall Winner
UN ZAPATO LLAMADO CAMPER by Pepe Santatecla and Alejandro Navarro
A stop frame animation following CAMPER as he tries to buy a new pair of feet.
Judges comment: A shoe finding a foot is a fun premise and the stop motion is good and obviously a lot of effort went in to making the individual scenes.
1st Prize
TANGO by Olivia Lorot and Juan Torres
A stop frame animation of two Camper shoes dancing a tango in front of a moving backdrop of Alicante.
Judges comment: The choice of music and movement in the stop motion is really alluring. It has been well executed and the lighting and usage of stop frame is good.
2nd Prize
AVENTURA CAMPER by Anabela Medrano Heredia y Arancha Rodriguez de Segovia Sanchez de la Majestad
Two people’s journey in a race to find the Lifelovers boat at the port
Judges comment: A fun and bright movie that shows the boat and one of the only films to include the sponsorship of the Volvo Ocean Race
3rd Prize
CORRE O MUERE by Angel Gómez Hernández, Lucas Vázquez de la Vega, Raúl Mollá Marcos, Javier Flor de Lis, Javier de Juan Jerónimo and Ignacio Albeza Candela
A short horror movie where Camper shoes rescue the main protagonist.
Judges comment: The make up is amazing for a student film and the producers they must have had a LOT of fun making it!
Today saw the culmination of years of work as the six Volvo 70’s took to the waters off Alicante for the first In Port race. It was the first chance to get vital points on the board ahead of the start of the first offshore leg next week.
At 1400 local time the fleet crossed the line to kick off the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race. A good start by CAMPER, Abu Dhabi and Groupama saw them extend over the rest of the fleet towards the first top mark. CAMPER and Abu Dhabi were soon in a stronger position as they held onto the pressure to put some distance between themselves and the chasing boats. They remained boat to boat on the first beat, as PUMA were forced to dip behind Abu Dhabi and CAMPER. A procession soon occurred as the fleet sailed downwind to the mark. CAMPER worked hard to close the gap on Abu Dhabi, but it was the crucial choice of sails at this first bottom mark that saw Abu Dhabi claim victory today.
Conditions remained incredibly light and shifty as the remaining five boats battled it out, creeping their way around the course. With the breeze dropping race management called for the course to be shortened and the fleet rounded the final mark for the last downwind leg. It was a tussle to the finish between CAMPER and Telefonica as they raced boat for boat to the line. CAMPER crossed the line to take a podium place and a valuable four points.
Shortly after finishing Groupama sailing team lodged a protest against CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. The protest was related to the forestay set-up on CAMPER, which was the subject of an application made to the independent arbitration panel earlier this month.
The international jury was meeting to take submissions, a decision is yet to be made.
Provisional In Port race results
1 Abi Dhabi 53:48
2 Puma Ocean Racing powered by BERG propulsion +14:14
3 CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand +16.28
4 Team Sanya +17:00
5 Groupama Sailing Team +17:29
6 Team Telefonica +18:26
Today was a little taster of things to come from the Volvo Ocean Race as the fleet lined up on the waters off Alicante for the practice race ahead of tomorrow’s In Port race. The six strong fleet headed out with media onboard in a short tussle close to shore.
Weeks and months of planning have led up to this moment. Boat handling was key for all the teams on the water today as they dealt with the windshifts and challenges of the short course in Alicante. For CAMPER it was a good race, a late start off the line saw a quick recovery as they took control of the race, and then led the fleet home. “We had a fair bit of good fortune out there, on the plus side we had some good crew manoeuvres and our boat handling was good. We have been saying for a while that we feel like we’re in good shape. It’s good to get down to the business end of things. With just a week left here in Alicante, we’re looking forward to getting through the In Port and to get started on leg one”
How much can we read into this? It’s hard to tell, but CAMPER are pleased with the performance today and they will be concentrating on a good result tomorrow. When asked in the press conference about the choice of sails for the race Nicholson commented, “It was a good choice but it was also some good fortune as well. We always had the genoa up and also the masthead ready to go so we were happy to do the manoeuvres pre-start with the smaller jib and then go to the larger one, it just so happened that the breeze came in at that particular time and that was our opportunity. So yeah, a bit of luck.”
For the team it has been a long build up, and the crew are keen to get the race started, but after the In Port tomorrow just a week remains as they switch from ‘in port’ mode to ‘offshore mode’. “I’ve certainly had a lot of trouble in the last 18 months switching off from this event. But like Ian (Walker) said, our preparation has been quite similar to Abu Dhabi’s. We will hopefully have one day off but then we have to switch our mindset from this tight racing and all the weather and the studies we’ve done here in Alicante to the broader picture from here to Cape Town. So we have several days planning for that and then one or two days of sailing. But it is important that we take a step back and enjoy it as well.”
Located in the Village of the Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante, the pavilion has been designed by Shigeru Ban.
Visually airy and with an open perimeter, the pavilion is a circular structure characterized by a striking colonnade of cardboard tubes (in this case of various diameters, so that one can fit into others and ease the shipment). The Japanese architect has become internationally renowned for using these tubes in his constructions and for using his talent for the good of society.
You are all invited to visit us!
The team wishes the All Blacks good luck for the game on Sunday
En la mañana de hoy, la selección española de futbol, “la roja” actual campeona de Europa y del mundo de futbol, que jugó ayer el último partido de la fase clasificatoria del Eurocopa 2012, giraron visita a las instalaciones portuarias alicantinas, donde está amarrada la flota que competirá en la próxima edición de la regata de vuelta al mundo con escalas “Volvo Ocean Race”, que partirá desde la capital de la Costa Blanca el próximo 5 de Noviembre.
Parte del equipo entre los que se encontraban Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Fernando Torres, Xavi Alonso, Victor Valdés entre otros componentes, subieron a bordo del barco y pasaron al interior donde fueron atendidos por Roberto Bermúdez de Castro y por el skipper y patrón del barco Cris Nicholson, que dieron todo tipo de explicaciones a los ilustres visitantes. Fernando Torres declaro a los medios de comunicación “Es impresionante ver cómo tendrán que sobrevivir sin prácticamente nada a bordo. He hablado con uno de los miembros del equipo y me ha dicho que lo hacen simplemente porque les gusta, por el mismo motivo que nosotros jugamos al fútbol. Irán 11 a bordo hasta julio, es sencillamente impresionante”.
Pie de foto: Roberto Bermúdez de Castro uno de los cañas del CAMPER, da explicaciones en el interior del barco al mediocentro de la selección y del Real Madrid Xavi Alonso, en presencia de su compañero de selección y de de demarcación en el FC Barcelona Sergio Busquets, y con el patrón del barco Cris Nicholson como testigo de este momento.
ALICANTE, Spain (Oct 11) – CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand had the honour of hosting none other than the world champions of football here on Tuesday as the Spanish national team visited the team’s base at the Volvo Ocean Race village. The football squad was relaxing ahead of its Euro 2012 qualifying match against Scotland tonight. CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson was the first to greet the squad, which included some of the biggest names in world football, such as Fernando Torres of Chelsea, Carlo Puyol, Xavi, David Villa of Barcelona, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso of Real Madrid and Liverpool’s Pepe Reina. Nicholson and Spanish sailor Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bermudez led the team on a tour of the boat, which was shaded from the late morning sunshine. Torres and Xavi were among the first to go below deck, and Casillas expressed his admiration for the crew and how they cope with living conditions at sea after seeing their sleeping bunks and living conditions. Torres told CAMPER media crew member Hamish Hooper that he would love to go racing one day. CAMPER co-skipper Stu Bannatyne revealed to Casillas – Spain’s goalkeeper and captain – that his brother James was a member of New Zealand’s 2010 World Cup squad. It was handshakes all round as the Spanish squad wished the CAMPER crew the best of luck luck for the Volvo Ocean Race before making their way back to their hotel. The sailors joked that at least the New Zealand football team achieved something that the Spanish team was unable to do – to go undefeated at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. New Zealand drew all three of their group games before exiting the tournament, while Spain lost its opening match against Switzerland.
9/10/11
24 hours ago as we entered the Bay of Palma it very quickly dawned on us that we had managed to be the first boat there, which was somewhat a surprise. And what made our arrival even better was our welcoming party of our good friends from Camper.
Not far behind, the big black and red sea monster emerged around the corner and did a great job of getting into us in a classic tussle up to the ‘Cathedral marker’ not far off the waterfront in Palma. They managed to sneak around us just prior to the mark and then lead us back out of the Bay. The good news was their lead didn’t last for long as we soon reeled them in and passed them heading home towards Alicante.
The biggest tactical decision of Leg 0 was soon looming, to ‘shoot the gap’ between Ibiza & Formanterra, or go high and back over the top of Ibiza where there looked to be the best of what little breeze there was. As Nico said, “When you are in the lead and have to make a call like that, it’s a bit of a roll of the dice.”
As we sat there parked up just to the north of Ibiza I began to get a growing feeling, (when I mean growing, I mean, like that of another boats sails on the horizon getting bigger and bigger), that maybe the dice wasn’t falling our way.
“Full credit to the trailing boats; Puma, Telefonica & Sanya,” said Nico, “those guys all made the right call to go around the other side, we thought we were going to the weather side of the island, but what eventually happened was we ended up on the leeward side and they got the better breeze.”
As a result I think those boats are pretty much home in Alicante, we on the other hand are watching the sunrise, some 60 miles out having a close little battle with Groupama to see who can make it home first.
For sure this is a stark illustration of just how costly good or bad decisions can be. In this case, very costly- the difference between getting home to watch the All Blacks or not… Just as long as they make the semi finals it won’t matter at all!
HAMISH
8/10/11
As expected last night was a big one, just some small windows of short rest, for the guys and never a shortage of action. Early in the night we were beating upwind in a nice 12 – 15 knots jimmying for position with the surrounding boats.
The upwind soon became a more ferocious reach across the top of Ibiza blasting along in 20- 25 knots in what is commonly described as ‘fire hydrant’ conditions. This morning we are some 15 miles off Palma Bay, although we have hit a bit of a hole in the breeze, which is now around 10 knots.
Luckily I think this is right across the fleet, and so the game of cat and mouse continues. We have Telefonica around a mile ahead of us, Puma around a mile or so to port of us, and Abu Dhabi and Groupama a couple of miles astern of us. Once the sun begins to rise we might get a better visual of where things are at.
This is definitely a game of patience, gains and loses but keeping a cool head. Hopefully the breeze stays in long enough to make good time back to Alicante, as it would be a mighty big shame to miss the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals! I know this is an extra incentive for most of the boats in the fleet.
HAMISH
7/10/11
I haven’t seen this sort of intensity on board CAMPER yet, despite having sailed over 10,000 miles with the crew.
To some people perhaps ‘Leg 0’ isn’t a race, just a little organized practice. Not so to this crew. The chance to finally line up against the other boats in the Volvo Ocean Race is a very serious matter especially as we hadn’t so much as laid eyes on another 2011 VO70 until we arrived in Alicante just over one week ago.
From the moment we left the dock the guys were clearly in the zone. It’s pretty obvious to see that this is the part of their job that they love and thrive on. It’s been a long road to this stage of the campaign, but now they get to do the bit that makes it all worthwhile…racing!!
CAMPER had a good start, and as Nico puts it, “We had a few good tussles going around the import part of the course, especially with Abu Dhabi.” By the time we were heading towards Tarbaca island, it was nice to look over our shoulders and see the entire fleet behind us, a sight I am sure we would never get sick of, however this isn’t an in port race and there is still a long way to go, so by all means there is no need to celebrate.” He said.
1700 GMT the man overboard exercise was like a Formula 1 pitstop. It was an unusual sight 6 VO70’ seemingly doing an impromptu waltz as the fleet suddenly stopped, dropped their sails and completed the man overboard exercise, before frantically getting back to racing hoping not to have lost any ground on the others.
Darkness drew with what seemed a blink of an eye and unfortunate for us, Telefonica Telefonica seemed to slip past with the blink of the other eye- then Abu Dhabi and then Puma. With this there wasn’t so much as a hint of worry, just continued focus to keep working back through the fleet.
A call from the ever-vigilant Salty was promising, “We just took a big chunk out of Telefonica.”
I enjoyed hearing those words.
We are now back fighting near the front of the fleet…. But really- so is everyone.
This will be a long night for the crew, not much sleep is anticipated, but hey- who wants to sleep when you are doing something you love? Not these guys.
HAMISH
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