Seb Montaz

An interview with Seb Montaz. 

Sébastien , you’re not only a cameraman and filmmaker. You’re working as a mountain guide, you do slacklining. Very versatile – what about B.A.S.E. jumping?

I’m not B.A.S.E. jumping. I don’t think I will entering into B.A.S.E. Jumping. There’s a time for anything and now I’m a father of two daughters. For me the time is over to try this sort of crazy stuff. I mean, it is not crazy, but it could be dangerous. And I'm doing enough dangerous stuff. So I’m staying up on the cliffs.

But the other sports in your film „This Must Be The One“ you have already tried?

Yes, except for B.A.S.E. Jumping and Freeflying. Steepskiing is what I probably like best. I grew up in Les Arcs, a Ski Resort and I did lots of skiing, telemarking and boarding – and of course steepskiing.

When did you find out that you’re a filmmaker? You did not have any formal training in the beginning...

Ten years ago when I was working as a mountain guide I started filming my clients. But I think I have always been a creative person and I went into it more and more. I had lots of passion for the image and the editing. It’s a natural progression. Hopefully every project gets a little bit better than the previous one.

In your last film a group of french slackliners – the „Bad Slackliners“ – play an important role. How did you get to know each other?

We actually met up on the hill - doing a highline. They asked me if I would like to try highlining and I did. This was my fist time on a highline. And I was pretty much inspired by the sport. It gives me the biggest adrenline rush of all the sports I’ve tried. Highlining is something above all the rest and I wanted to follow the team because they’re extremly talented. They are far away from being crazy. They are very clever and organized people. Two of the guys used to be engineers and they calculate everything they do. It looks risky, but it is a risk which they try to control.

Do you have any experience with solos, highlining without a safety rope?

Very few people are doing it. I know a team, the „Skyliners“, but they’re not filming or communicating very much, because their solos are quite introspective and a private thing. Once a filmed a solo on a highline and afterward I figured out if I should publish it or not. This guy was so controlled. He didn’t want to show off. I had never seen him before. He appeared in the morning and after he had crossed the line six times he disappeared again. I had only seen him for about four hours. He felt very good on this day. He said that he would like to solo and asked him if it was ok if I filmed. I did not know what he had in mind, if is would be a success. It was really personal.

What does a good highline look like?

First, it’s not easy to find a good spot for a big highline. We need to consider the length. It can’t be longer than 50 meters because otherwise it would be too challenging. You try to find a nice looking area. That’s why the Mont Blance Range was kind of perfect. In Paris, when we were shooting on the sykscrapers „Les Mercuriales“ everything was well planned and organized. Otherwise we could not have accessed the building. So one of the slackliners asked the „Big Boss“ – a very big boss because this building belongs to an international trust... We were lucky, the person in charge was very enthusiastic about the sport and the lifestyle and gave us the permission to do whatever we wanted to do.

Can you describe your way of filmmaking?

First of all: I try to be invisible. Wether it’s wingsuits, B.A.S.E. jumps or anything. I try not to have any impact on the athletes. They are fully concentrated on what they’re doing and they’re completely free in their decisions. There’s just one thing: I sometimes ask them to be synchronised with me. To wait a little bit longer so that I have time to pull the focus point and get the camera ready. Maybe they have to be a little bit more patient than when I’m there, too. But they’re not doing anything different when they’re alone. It’s very important to respect these crucial moments.