40-something-year-old Rich Fisher from Radcliffe-on-Trent is to release a film documenting his 2008 road trip adventure.
‘Rich and Ed’s Excellent Adventure’ takes place in 2008 when two local friends decided to take part in the Mongol Rally. The pair filmed the entire journey.
The Mongol Rally is a 10,000 mile race across mountains deserts and non-existent roads from England to Mongolia, travelling in a cheap scrapheap car with an engine no bigger than 1 Litre. The more ridiculous the vehicle – the better. During the rally, the people taking part are asked to also raise money for charity.
Setting off in a battered old Peugeot 106, the pair faced thousands of miles, many breakdowns, run-ins with Russian cops and they even got banned from a famous motor racing circuit.
Rich said, “Of course, everything in this life is relative – and of the hundreds of people who attempt the Mongol Rally every year, our experience was probably pretty middle of the road compared to those of some people. Whereas we just set off in our Peugeot and simply headed east, you hear about folk who do the rally in far more ridiculous vehicles – everything from ambulances to London buses – and also take far more adventurous routes.
“I remember Ed and I thinking we were being edgy in the run-up to the trip when we decided we were going to drive through Kazakhstan – only to discover that some teams were planning to tackle Iran!
“It was incredible trip, and we captured the whole thing on camera with the intention of making some kind of movie telling the story of our adventure.
“Sadly, like a lot of ambitious projects, making the film was something we never quite got round to – and our footage sat gathering dust for over a decade.
“Like a lot of folk though, I was largely stuck at home during lockdown and needed a project – so I finally got the film made! It’s a feature-length film, and we’re releasing it with a private cinema screening at Broadway Cinema Nottingham this September.”
“To say I’m a complete novice when it comes to filmmaking, I’m actually really proud of how the finished film has ended up looking. It is a bit rough and ready – we shot all the footage of our trip on a cheap camera, and some of it is a bit wobbly. I actually think though that the lo-fi feel of it is entirely fitting – after all, the Mongol Rally is a ramshackle sort of adventure, so it’s only right really that a film that tells the story of what it’s like to do it is also a bit rough round the edges.
“I’m also hoping through the release of the film to support the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation – an ace charity that helps street children in Mongolia and other developing countries. We raised a load of cash for them back in 2008 through doing the rally, so it’d be great to continue that relationship.”
The film will also be released to the general public from 20th September, all you have to do is visit the JustGiving page here: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/preorderfilm and donate £5 for a film download or £10 for a limited-edition USB.
For more details, visit: www.mongolrallyfilm.wordpress.com