The documentary about Lance Mackey has once again won international acclaim and is now playing to full houses.
Director Finn-Erik Rognan and Maverix followed the legendary, four-time winner of the world's toughest wilderness race for three years. The documentary about Lance Mackey has once again won international acclaim. The film recently won a top award at the Anchorage International Film Festival in Alaska and is now playing to full houses.
"We got to know Lance Mackey in Alaska during the winter when the pandemic broke out. He lived an extraordinary life and was a Shakespearean-like character. Unfortunately, he passed away far too soon, and this film is a historical document on his life," says Linda Nordheim, CEO of Maverix.
Lance Mackey was a race car driver and family man, but best known as the four-time winner of the legendary Iditarod wilderness race. The Iditarod is a 10-day dog sledding competition through the rugged wilderness of Alaska. Thanks to these incredible feats, he was named the world's toughest sportsman. The race is dedicated to the memory of the Norwegian Leonard Seppala, who in 1925 covered much of this distance to deliver vital medicines to the people of Nome.
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Facing down a moose in Anchorage
"We quickly discovered that Lance was the most popular musher in the United States. He simply went by the nickname 'The Legend'. Lance always found himself in the most unbelievable situations. The first time I met him, he had to defend himself with a ladle against an aggressive moose he encountered in downtown Anchorage," says director Finn-Erik Rognan.
While the documentary crew was filming Lance competing in a car race in Arizona, he suffered a severe crash. In connection with subsequent medical checks, a tumour was discovered around Lance's lungs.
"Lance's life was far from easy, and he was struck by one tragedy after another. Still, he's always smiled back at life, and that's one of the reasons for his popularity," says documentary filmmaker Rognan.
Seven awards for Wild Life
The Anchorage International Film Festival isn't the only international film award Wild Life took home. The film has also won the Los Angeles Film Awards and the ONIROS Film Awards, and received accolades at the New York Film Awards, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, the Hollywood Gold Awards, and the Florence Film Awards.
For information on distribution of Wild Life - the Lance Mackey story, please contact: linda@maverix.no.
Maverix has previously produced the television series Ice Cowboys which has been broadcast in a number of countries. The series has an IMDB score of 9.2. Maverix has also produced series such as Gutta på tur (7.5), Expedition Lothepus (8.5), Lothepus Camping (9.6) and the final season of Fjorden Cowboys (8.7) in addition to a large number of live sports events in recent years, both nationally and internationally.
Read all about the Ice Cowboys series.
Wild Life - The Lance Mackey story
Director: Finn-Erik Rognan
Script: Finn-Erik Rognan and Dag Vidar Hopøy
Editing: Dag Vidar Hopøy
Produced by: Linda Nordheim, Ola Gråberg, and Jan Ove Årsæther
Art direction: Kim Taanevig
120 minutes.
Region: Worldwide (English language)
About the Anchorage International Film Festival
The Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) is the largest film festival in Alaska. It is held annually in Anchorage. The main venue for AIFF is the Bear Tooth Theatrepub which hosts the opening night celebration as well as several other films and events throughout the festival.
About the Los Angeles Film Awards
Los Angeles Film Awards (LAFA) is a competition for filmmakers and screenwriters from all over the world. LAFA is the first festival to receive 400+ five-star reviews on FilmFreeway, out of over 8,000 film festivals. LAFAs mission is to promote films and be another step up in the filmmakers' careers.
About the Oniros Film Awards
The Oniros Film Awards is an International Monthly IMDb Qualifying competition with a public Screening Event held in New York City every three months, celebrating films® and filmmakers from all around the world. The Oniros Film Awards is all about Dreams (ὄνειρος = oneiros®, Dream in Ancient Greek) and is conceived by Dreamers for Dreamers. Dream Big, always!
About Maverix
Maverix has brought together exceptionally talented and experienced advertising professionals, journalists, strategists, advisors, directors, and designers. A Maverick does not follow well-trodden paths but finds new paths to its destination. Creativity is not an end in itself, but a means to creating growth and strong results. At Maverix, we do not necessarily follow the rules or established truths, but challenge both ourselves and our customers to create value.
