Once a year in Glacier View, Alaska, people drive enormous distances to watch their cars get catapulted off a 300ft cliff in one of the most scenic, remote parts of the world – an annual event known as the Fourth of July Car Launch. Drawing crowds from across the USA and beyond, the event stands as a depiction of unorthodox rituals, the American spirit, and catharsis, with many of the heavily decorated cars arriving with an attached emotional weight and personal history.
“I wanted to approach the film observationally, with the sense of catharsis being what I was most interested in capturing. A lot of people had travelled huge distances to get there, with the launch becoming both the end of their trip and the end of the car's life.”
Travelling to the event and spending time with its community, filmmaker Jamie Shipston-Mourn documents a human phenomenon of total destruction and spectacle in the name of celebration for the short film Glacier View. Finding the film through the people he met and their stories – among them, Ben Keefe, who spoke openly about addiction and sobriety – Shipston-Mourn captures a ceremony that is as much about the journey as the launch itself, presenting a chance for new beginnings by releasing regrets, memories and burdens in physical form against the majesty of the Alaskan landscape.
Director: Jamie Shipston-Mourn
Producer: Rehana Jade Mawani
Directors of Photography: Charlie Howard & Harrison Mendel
Editor: Sakky Barnor
Sound Design & Composition: Cal Swingler
Composition & Mix: Son of Philip
Outro Music: Luke Fenton
Colour Grade: Tim Smith
Titles & Typography: Isabella Walker