By Sarah Hunt
You probably won’t know John Smithson’s name. His work, however, reads like a list of Oscar nominations – and that’s probably because he was recently nominated for six.
John has produced some of the most epic stories from the last decades. Most recently, he was responsible for 127 Hours, the story of mountaineer Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Utah for (surprise) 127 hours before amputating his arm.
John’s long career includes achievements such as; Touching the Void, the story of two mountaineers who attempted to climb the west face of famous 21,000ft peak “Siula Grande” in Peru; The Falling Man, an expose about the photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew, depicting a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in New York City; and Thriller in Manila, the story of boxer Joe Frazier’s iconic fights with Muhammad Ali.
As a part of our storytelling series, John speaks with Hidden Documentary on different facets of creating a compelling documentary.
John Smithson producer of 127 Hours talks about documentary trends in 2011 – Hidden Documentary from hiddendoco on Vimeo.
A fascinating insight into the genesis of ’127 Hours’. This is one of the most compelling and inspiring survival stories I have read and the film is a sensitive counter piece. I admire John Smithson. Such an intelligent approach to difficult subject matter. ‘Touching the Void’ has a similar effect on me, reminding us that the most difficult challenge, no matter what the circumstances, is coming up against ourselves.
Thankyou for giving us this insight into the processes that have delivered such distinctive stories.