Courtesy of Monique Smith

The Sticking Place is a documentary about 24 year-old Olympic-hopeful, Leah Callahan, but it is also a film that requires the audience be part of the story making.

Instead of using a traditional sports documentary style, directors Josephine Anderson and Brittany Baxter adopted an interactive format, which allows the audience to view the film for free and have control over how they watch Callahan’s story.

“Instead of just passively watching the film, the viewers can really engage and explore her life and what it is like to be an athlete,” said Anderson, a graduate of UBC’s English literature program.

The directors might lose more control with an interactive film as compared to a traditional style, but that also allows the voice of Leah to be more dominant. “As compared to the standard sports documentary, the interactive format gets up close with the personal details of Leah’s life,” said Anderson.

Callahan, who is based in Calgary, is currently ranked as the second best female freestyle wrestler in the country. She will be heading to Winnipeg in two weeks for the primary Olympic trials, where she will find out if she can represent Canada in 2012.

As Baxter asserted, “We just want the viewers to be interested and involved. Josephine and I try to be honest and open about the whole experience and production process, just as Leah is being real and honest about herself in front of the camera.

“Leah sacrifices so much. She goes into debts and she doesn’t get fame; she does it because she’s passionate about it. Leah is a character that brings people out. If you go to one of her matches, you will feel the immense support and love she gets from the audience. Everyone loves her because she’s such a genuine person.”

The directors were inspired after having seen one of Callahan’s wrestling matches in March and are currently in the final stages of fundraising. By London 2012, the project website should be launched, and viewers can explore Callahan’s story through various formats, like her journals and behind-the-scenes videos.

The website will also be a platform for viewers to share their experience and struggles of their dream-making. Baxter commented, “Our film is about wrestling, but we really feel that the goal will resonate with athletes or non-athletes. It’s really a story about living a thoughtful life, about pursuing a dream.

“Leah’s journey is an Olympics journey, but in one way or another, we’re all on our own version of an Olympics journey. Many of us are pursuing something that we care about and so many of us gets to a point where the dream is challenging and we have to persevere through those challenges,” said Baxter.

“Our documentary really explores those challenges and the uncertainty in changing one’s course or pushing through those obstacles.”

Go to thestickingplacefilm.ca to see the trailer.

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