Griffin Glendinning: “Svea Irving had never been filmed in the backcountry before”

“Stasis” is a mystical, melancholic portrait of Svea Irving, who competes for the US national team in the halfpipe. The film showcases her experiences in the wilderness and in nature in a cool and abstract way. In this interview, director Griffin Glendinning shares his excitement about what made this project so special.
 

Could you briefly tell us who Svea Irving is?

Griffin Glendinning: Svea leads quite a stressful life. She just completed her first bachelor’s degree at the University of Boulder. On top of that, she competes professionally in the halfpipe: in the World Cup and at the X-Games, where she won bronze in the SuperPipe in 2023. She is also trying to qualify for the 2026 Olympics. But she also loves being in the backcountry, exploring that side of skiing. All of this makes her life very complicated and chaotic. But there is one element that connects all these aspects, and that is nature.

What message do you want to convey with this very mystical film?

We want to show that there is a beauty in all the different elements of her life that meets at this point of “stasis”—this moment of absolute immersion and stillness. That’s exactly what Svea finds when she is in nature. She uses all her free time to escape and get outside, hiking, climbing, and so on. So, we wanted to portray, in a cool, visually abstract way, how all the chaotic elements of her life find a way to balance themselves out in nature.

Svea really excels in the backcountry, as we see in the film.

Absolutely, Svea has always spent a lot of time in the backcountry and is fully familiar with the safety measures. But she had never been filmed doing it before. So, we went out and started shooting. I was amazed at how well she moves in the terrain and the potential she showed. She definitely has a bright future in big mountain and backcountry skiing.

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How did her performance improve during the shoot?

We had a few people show us where she could ski without getting into too much danger, but where she could still showcase her skills. She really blossomed during the shoot. She would say, “I’ll try this trick here,” and she nailed it on the first attempt. I think she gets that from her brother, Birk, who is also a freestyle pro. The two of them are just incredibly talented and athletically gifted freeskiers and freeriders. But it was also a huge challenge for her to push herself and try something entirely new.

How did you make this project a reality?

We are really grateful for the amazing support from her sponsors. And I’m very thankful to have worked with her because she fully backed my idea to find a different creative expression with this film. We’re really excited to offer a film project in this field that’s totally different. We’re also proud that we found an individual way to send a unique message. We think the combination of story, sound design, color grading, and special effects worked out really well.

What’s your personal background?

I grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the East Coast of the USA. I was heavily influenced by music and art there. When I started working as a videographer, all my work was shaped by that. I filmed a lot of events. So, I shoot music videos and do a lot of things that are inspired by music. Music has always been a driving force for me.

And how did you get into sports?

At some point, I moved to Colorado and got into action sports like surfing and mountain biking. I found an interesting connection between my traditional influences from music and a way to transfer that style to sports. By combining the two elements, I found my own form of visual storytelling, which is quite unusual for most filmmakers in the sports world.
Last year, I did a similar freeski project called Con Artist (Honorable Mention Award at the Freeride Film Festival 2023). It was about the abstract portrayal of three women and their lives as skiers. When I talked to Svea, we wanted to do a project that was more about portraying her as a person and her lifestyle. That’s how Stasis came about.