This is me, end of 2011. Photo by Mark Lobo
Find the Wind is a global documentary series examining the most fascinating and powerful winds of the world and the effects each has on the people who live in their path. In every corner of the globe, the wind has a unique name, a distinct personality and a significant effect on the local people, their lifestyles and sociology. Find the Wind will deliver a compelling adventure/travel/science series with fully integrated all-media components.
The project will follow Josh as he visits 8 winds across 8 lands throughout the seasons of a full year. From the windiest place on Earth in Antarctica where the Kattabatic winds reach up to 200 milesper hour; to Argentina where the Pampero can blow for days forcing pedestrians off the road; In Canada the ‘snow eater’ or Chinook can raise temperatures by as much as 30 degrees in under an hour; The sub-tropics are home to the windless ‘Horses Latitudes’ named after explorers who had to throw horses overboard to lighten their load to make headway, and where today the world’s largest plastic soup – the North Pacific Gyre – is located; In Winter, in Siberia, the ‘Buran’, heralds severe blizzards that reduce visibility to zero over the World’s oldest and deepest body of fresh water, Lake Baikal; the ‘Fohn’which descends the Alps in Switzerland is linked to depression and even suicide; The Helm in England blankets the land in cloud and the hot Arabian dessert winds of the Simoon are responsible for increased crime rates, the outbreak of war and evenfatal dehydration.
In each place, Josh is going to meet with the people who live with these winds and witness how they shape community and space when they blow. He’ll also try to harness each one – either through his love of windsurfing, or by any means necessary.
The project is a world-first – some of the winds have never been documented and some of them have never been windsurfed. Equally the stories of how these winds affect the communities that live in their path have never been told.
Josh would love to hear from you if have a similar interest and passion for the wind, windsurfing, or if you’d like to be involved somehow.
