There's a new movie that rolls
into Seattle this weekend.
Esperanto explores the extreme world of
mountain biking and how riders on all corners
of the globe share a universal language.
We're joined today by one
of the stars of the film,
who lives right here in Western Washington.
Welcome to new day Hannah Bergman.
Great to have you amazing, amazing film.
And I'm wondering how you
got to be a part of it.
Here you are.
You come from Bellingham originally,
and suddenly you are on big
screens in dramatic fashion all
over the place all over the world.
People are going to be able
to see Hannah Bergman.
Where how did this?
What was your journey
from Bellingham to this?
Yeah, it's a bit of a wild journey,
but I moved up to Bellingham to
attend university in 2015 and
was just spending every spare
minute I had riding my bike just
because I love mountain biking.
It's one of my passions and it really just.
Translated from there,
that's wild. So how long, how many years
does it take to get to your level?
I've been doing it for about 7 years.
That's it. Yeah, Oh my gosh,
I could barely, you know as a kid I
could barely ride a bike for a while.
I I have my own issues and then,
but then at some point I realized
you can take your bike someplace
other than the street you can.
Oh look, I can take it down this little
hill on the side of the neighbor's
yard is that kind of how it starts.
Totally, just realize you can. Yeah,
we build little jumps in the front
yard and then I was lucky enough
to grow up in Hood River OR which
has access to mountain biking.
So my dad introduced it to me
at a pretty young age and then
gave me a hand me down mountain
bike when I was in high school.
That's great and what one thing
I really love about this movie is
a lot of extreme or action sport
kind of films seem very male here.
There are guys in this film but there
are also a lot of young women like you.
Yourself, is that something that kind
of you enjoyed about the project as
being able to show off what look?
What women on this side of the sport can do?
Totally
yeah, I mean mountain biking and action.
Sports in general are typically
super male dominated.
So yeah, it's pretty amazing to
have such a like powerhouse cast of
female athletes in this film that
are featured in like really showcase
their writing in A to a broad stage.
These are some of the best writers in the
world we see in this film then right? Yeah,
definitely and we were talking a little bit.
Or the show about how this reminds me
so much of the Warren Miller ski films
where you can just sit back and be
immersed in these incredible, you know,
the the work that's incredible athletes do,
but in a way where the landscape is as much.
Yeah, totally out of the picture and
it's just beautiful to watch too.
And you yours was in Utah, is that right?
Yeah, we were in Virgin Utah,
which is sort of known in the
free ride world as like the Mecca
of Free ride, mountain biking
cool, so take me inside that
process what? What was it you
were challenged to do and then?
Did the film makers have to do to capture
it? Yeah, so we were in Virgin Utah and
the landscape there is super unique.
It's has these wild cliffs and these
beautiful mesas so you're riding
on these exposed ridges so you're
really trying to work with the camera
crew to perform your best to ride at
your highest level when it matters.
So like when the camera is rolling,
when the light's good and it's a
bit of a collaborative process
working with the film crew to get
the best outcome that you can,
I feel almost. Really,
because the viewer the viewer experience,
you just sit there and you enjoy
it like a great piece of music.
Well, you don't think about everything
that goes into the production
and and how hard you're working
because you make it look easy.
You just look like a superhero
who's flying, you know?
And the and the cinematography
is spectacular as as people could
see in some of those shots there.
So what's next for you now that
you've got this world stage?
Just planning the next thing.
Spending time riding my bike
and having a good time and then
trying to think of the next.
Project or event to be a part of traveling?
Cool places to ride my bike and
I wish I had an extraordinary
skill man that sounds like the
best so so it's a great way to see
the world I guess yeah, awesome.
And then how can people see the film
you can see it if you're in the
Seattle area it's going to be playing
on July 19th at the Mountaineers and
then if you're in the Bellingham area
at Mount Baker Theater on the 20th,
but you can buy tickets on Teton
Gravity Research website and also see
where other film locations will be.
That's great.
It must be really worth it.
See it in person and up on a screen.
Yeah, definitely. And also to share,
I bet there's some energy in the room
when that when that hits the screen.
Yeah, absolutely amazing.
OK, thank you so much.
And best of luck to you and to your career.
And I hope the movie does great.
I hope you all go out and see it.
It's an awesome film.