2025 | Documentary | 64 min. | France, Kyrgyzstan, Russia
Obsession is a sports documentary exploring the culture of snowboarding and the deep, often irrational passion that keeps riders returning to the mountains. Filmed over several years in remote locations including Kyrgyzstan, Kamchatka, and the Alps, the film follows snowboarders, filmmakers, and mountain guides who share a common drive - the need to experience those fleeting seconds of freedom when gravity briefly loses its power. Without staged scenes or actors, the film captures authentic moments of risk, friendship, exhaustion, and inspiration. At its heart, Obsession is also a story about generations: how today’s riders, once inspired by those before them, now pass their knowledge and spirit on to the next wave. It is a documentary about obsession - the force that pushes people back into the mountains again and again.
Directors Statement
For many people snowboarding looks like a sport built on tricks, competition, and adrenaline. But when you spend enough time in the mountains, you begin to realize that something deeper is happening. I have worked for many years as a cinematographer in action sports, often filming athletes in remote and demanding environments. Unlike a traditional observer, I am usually part of the movement itself - riding alongside snowboarders, climbing with them into the mountains, or following them with a camera where the terrain becomes unpredictable. Over time I started asking myself a simple question: why do people keep coming back? Why do riders return again and again to the cold, the risk, the exhaustion - just for a few seconds of movement down a mountain? Obsession grew from the desire to explore that question. We filmed the project over several years in different parts of the world, from Kyrgyzstan to Kamchatka and the Alps. The film does not use actors or staged scenes. The people on screen are the same people who live this life every day - riders, filmmakers, guides, and friends connected by a shared passion. While making the film, I realized that this story is not only about snowboarding. It is also about continuity. Every generation of riders grows up inspired by those who came before, and eventually becomes the generation that inspires the next. Some things in life are difficult to explain logically. But they are easy to recognize when you see them. Maybe the best word for it is obsession.
Director: Sergey Firsov
Producers: Sergey Firsov, Nikita Kliukvin and Yaroslav Lenchevsky
Сast: Andrey Moskvin, Svetlana Buzenkova, Denis Lenchevsky and Yaroslav Lenchevsky
