Winner of the Best Film on Mountain Sport and People’s Choice Award


Running time: 60 minutes
Director: Jens Hoffmann
Genre: Documentary

"I don't want to die, I want to live. I'm pretty good at running away, and this is my escape." This is how Karina Hollekim describes her dedication to BASE jumping. Documentary filmmaker Jens Hoffman first met the now 30-year-old Norwegian in 2002. He immediately started to film, planning to follow Karina over a long period, trying to understand why a young woman would challenge herself mentally and physically in such an extreme sport. Jens accompanies her through many stages of her BASE-jumping career, until it comes to a sudden stop and changes all aspects of her life.



Jumping for Joy

It takes a certain type of person to jump off a cliff, and a BASE jumper would definitely be considered one type. BASE jumping entails jumping off of a fixed object (a building, antenna, span or earth, according to the acronym) and free-falling hundreds to thousands of feet before releasing the parachute. It is possibly the most dangerous and fatal extreme sport there is. According to one BASE jumper, three things will happen if you BASE jump long enough: you will get hurt, you will watch people die jumping, and BASE jumping will eventually kill you as well.

So why would anyone willingly accept the possibility of death just for the thrill of jumping? 20 Seconds of Joy is a documentary about professional athlete Karina Hollekim. The title comes from Hollekim herself when she asks if it is really that important to jump off a cliff and get 20 seconds of joy. To answer these questions, Director Jens Hoffman takes viewers on a journey through five years of Hollekim’s BASE jumping career, delving into her life and trying to explain her yearning to continually be involved in increasingly risky situations. He does so brilliantly, presenting Hollekim as a complex person who is simply doing what she loves, but also recognizes the dangers of her job and the strain she places upon her loved ones. Her struggle to reconcile these two aspects is dealt with sympathetically and you find yourself admiring her and wishing her the best.

With gorgeous shots of breathtaking views, the documentary itself is pretty well made. Watching the jumps was a little suspenseful for me, knowing that I could be witnessing a person’s last moments and the mostly tasteful soundtrack built upon that suspense. There were times that I thought the music was too overpowering though. Some of the interviews were a little hard to understand due to the foreign accents of the interviewees and differences in the sound quality occasionally made sections sound awkward when they were spliced together. The timeline is also a little confusing because the film jumps around a lot; however, this is all minor. 20 Seconds of Joy lets you experience the sense of joy Hollekim receives from her life, yet it also left me pondering deeper subjects like life, death and fear.