The Raftsmen
FEATURE DOC
Director / Producer
Chadden Hunter
Writer / Editor
Chris Bamford
Producer
William Ward
Executive Producers
Bettina Dalton p.g.a.
Anna Godas
Oli Harbottle
Dir. of Photography
Dale Cochrane
Composer
Finn Clarke
Twelve adventure-mad misfits set out to cross the world’s largest ocean... on three log rafts. Fifty years on, revisit this perilous and historic journey, beset by storms, sharks, and frayed nerves.
In 1973, 12 men gathered in Ecuador at the start of a seemingly impossible mission. At the helm was Captain Vital Aslar, a prophet-like leader with a Salvador Dali-inspired dream to cross the South Pacific – roughly 14,500 kilometres, non-stop. The largely inexperienced crew began by building their own vessels from trees they’d felled. Then they headed out into the blue: navigating by the sun and stars, they encounter myriad creatures, tempests and doldrums as they make their way from Ecuador towards Australia. Award-winning documentarian Chadden Hunter blends original 16mm footage with stories from the surviving rafters, vividly conjuring a dreamlike adventure in which each voyager is pushed to their limits.


