Rad Movie Productions has been keeping the spirit alive in Upper Wallis for quite a few years now. We caught up with Mr. Rad himself, the one and only Valentin Zimmermann on the eve of their premiere to find out more about what they have in store for us this year.
Hey Valentin… Stoked to see this year’s movie! Is there a story behind the title?
“Circum Volution” – is the fancy word for the act of turning around the central axis. And this is pretty damn central to Snowboarding. Every rider needs to find his own axis, which is under a constant development. The axis is an expression of personality and style.
Interesting… So what’s special about this year’s movie?
I do not wish to give away too much at this point: “Circum Volution” is a movie in four different chapters. The movie will show a positive, creative and wild crew, which has an endless appreciation for riding their snowboards and creative spots.
Well, that’s what we love about you guys… I heard that some of the crew made it to Japan? How was that?
Jannick, the other Yannick and Markus have been travelling to Japan in January. They been enjoyed the snow and culture in Hakuba and brought back some awesome footage. It was a big challenge for the boys over there to read street signs and Japanese writing in general. One time Markus walked into a family’s dining room, thinking this was a restaurant.
All shots courtesy of Rad Movie Productions.
Amazing… haha. If you had to compare the “RAD crew” to an animal, what animal would it be?That would be a mix between a gang of penguins with a constant will to shred down the hill on their bellies and a wild and hyperactive bunch of apes jumping from liana to liana all day long.
Penguin apes? Yes please!
On a more serious note, what does it mean to you, to be a grassroots-production?
Of course the riders have personal sponsors that support them. The production itself is not sponsored – it is independent. It feels especially good to be independent from companies that have nothing to do with snowboarding, if you know what I mean. Plus, our crew has no hierarchy. Everybody does their share for producing the movie. That’s grassroots to us, and we like it that way.
Any new members to your crew this year?
Yes Pierre Clivaz A.K.A. Baby Face joined our crew this year. He’s a young gun with a lot of talent and positive vibes. He’s from the French part of Wallis, but does speak German very well. His French accent was very entertaining through the whole season. Even though he rides for K2, he likes the “Gnü”- Board of Müller a lot too!
Well, what’s not to like about a Müllair? The more Nico, the better…
What do you think about the Swiss Snowboard Scene?
That’s a hard one. It can be cheesy. Just kidding! In general I think more places / resorts / people should be like the vibe in the summer park in Zermatt. Everybody is so chill there. Folks get to know each other easily, cause everybody is open and it’s all about the shred. Maybe it’s the Italians, who add a lot to this good vibe.
Well you guys are certainly doing your part! Here’s to more good vibes and maybe some Italian food ;-) Stoked to see the movie.