ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
In August of 2021 filmmaker Dianne Whelan became the first person to travel the land and water trails of the 17,000 miles of the Trans Canada Trail—the world’s longest trail.

SYNOPSIS
Dianne Whelan is no stranger to shooting indie films in extreme locations. She’s filmed on Mt. Everest for 40 DAYS AT BASECAMP and on the most northern coastline of Canada for THIS LAND. So travelling the longest trail in the world while simultaneously shooting a film about the experience didn’t seem too far-fetched. And then her estimate of 500 days on the trail became 6 years.

The 17,000 mile Trans Canada Trail stretches across the continent of North America, connecting the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans. Dianne travelled the entirety of the land and water trails, the only person to ever accomplish this journey. Pushing 150 pounds of her heavily laden bike over rocks, hiking through flooded bogs, paddling 2,500 miles on the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean, snowshoeing through dense forests, skiing across wind-blown plains, biking along pristine trails in all seasons. For a woman in her 50s who is not an extreme athlete, it was sometimes grueling, occasionally harrowing, often exhilarating and always surprising. And there were many good belly-laughs about the absurdity of the situations she occasionally found herself in.

This theatrical feature doc is a weave of adventure film, personal reflections and stunning captures of wildlife and landscapes. The people Dianne encounters are indigenous elders she pays her respects to along the way, friends who occasionally join her on the trail and locals in the communities she passes through. She started out alone, disillusioned with state of the world and worried about climate change, to look for different ways of caring for the land and for each other. She ended the journey a bit wiser, more hopeful, in love and with a passion to share her story.

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Dianne Whelan
SCREENWRITER Dianne Whelan
PRODUCER Betsy Carson
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Christine Haebler, Dianne Whelan

WEBSITE 500daysinthewild.com
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