Short Film: Karun / 2014 / 15′
A rather eventful jaunt from source to sea along Iran’s longest river.
In the spring of 2014, British adventures Tom Allen and Leon McCarron set out to follow Iran’s longest river, the Karun, by human powered means. Their aim was to go beyond the politics and explore the culture and geography of this most misunderstood of nations – and have a great adventure doing so. But despite Tom’s deep personal ties to Iran, they found that cultural differences run deeper than they’d realised. And when the once-calm waters of the Karun turn nasty, they wonder if they’ve bitten off more than they can chew…
Official selections include: Nissan Adventure Film Festival 2015, Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival 2015, Sheffield Adventure Film Festival 2015, and the UK Adventure Travel Film Festival 2015.
Awards include: People’s Choice award at Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival 2015.
Feature-Length Documentary: Janapar – Love, on a Bike / 2012 / 79′
A true love-story, filmed over four years in thirty-two countries by one man on a bicycle.
More than half a decade in the making, Janapar: Love on a Bike is a feature-length directorial debut for James W Newton who worked closely with Tom Allen as he captured every aspect of life on the road. The film was cut from over 300 hours of material shot in 32 countries and features an original score by award-winning composer Vincent Watts. Janapar’s World Premiere was held at the 20th Raindance Film Festival in September 2012.
Official selections include: Boulder Mountain Film Festival 2013, Kendal Mountain Fest 2013, Graz Mountain Film Festival 2013, ZagrebDox 2013, Bansko Mountain Film Festival 2012, Adventure Travel Film Festival 2013, Sheffield Adventure Film Festival 2013, Sofia MENAR Film Festival 2013, New York Bicycle Film Festival 2013, Transatlantyk Festival Poznan 2013, Quais Du Depart 2013 in Lyon, Curieux Voyageurs 2014 in St. Etienne, Hip Trip Travel Film Festival 2014 in Bucharest, and many others.
Awards include: Best Exploration & Adventure Film at the 62nd Trento Mountain Film Festival 2014, Spirit of Adventure Gold Award at Sheffield Adventure Film Festival 2013, the Dr. Michael J Hagopian Award for Best Documentary at the Pomegranate Film Festival 2013 in Toronto, and Best In Show at the Adventure Travel Film Festival 2013.
Short Film: Letter from Lapland / 2011
A two-minute short film offering a glimpse of life on the road in the northern Scandinavian winter.
In January 2011, Tom decided he wanted to know whether or not it was possible to travel by bicycle in the depths of winter. With daytime temperatures rarely rising above ‑10°C and with night-time temperatures plummeting to ‑30°C and below, Tom cycled and camped his way 1,000 miles north from the Norwegian capital of Oslo to the Arctic Circle in Sweden and beyond.
Directed, edited and produced by Tom Allen.
Short Film: Zone One Microadventure / 2011
Two blokes, 24 hours, a map of central London and a bivvy bag. The possibilities are endless.
Who said you had to leave central London to have a worthwhile overnight #microadventure?
In this short film, Tom and his mate Andy Welch decide to circumnavigate Zone One by human power, starting and finishing on Tower Bridge. Is leaving town really a pre-requisite for having fun in the great outdoors?
Directed, edited and produced by Tom Allen.
Short Film Series: Ride Earth in Outer Mongolia / 2011
A series of four shorts following Tom and his friend Andy Welch as they mountain-bike the roadless steppes of Mongolia.
In 2010, two friends reunited to take mountain biking to its logical conclusion: a six-week ride across the world’s most sparsely-populated nation. Is it possible to use the bicycle as a mode of transport in a country without roads, in which half the population are tent-dwelling nomads, and where it’s possible to ride for days without seeing a single settlement? Tom’s first filmmaking project as a producer-director aims to find out.
Directed, edited and produced by Tom Allen.
6 replies on “Films by Tom Allen”
[…] Tom is a blogger from England. Since 2006 he’s been going on bicycle adventures to places like Sudan, Iran, Yemen, Syria, the Arctic, Ethiopia, Armenia and Mongolia. On his blog he shares stories, ideas, news and knowledge on the subject of modern-day bicycle travel. He has written two books, including ‘Janapar’. In the book he tells the story of a 3½ year bicycle journey across three continents. And then Tom meets Tenny, a feisty Iranian-Armenian girl with dreams of her own, and hits a crossroad. Should he give up his grand plan for the girl he loves, or cycle off and risk missing out on the greatest adventure of them all? Japanar is a also a feature-length documentary film. […]
[…] janapar.com, tomsbiketrip.com, bicycletouringpro.com, nytimes.com, theguardian.com […]
[…] Janapar … Love, on a Bike, an independent film released on 24 January, is perfect for vicarious adventurers. It’s the story of Tom Allen, a British IT expert who gave up his career to travel the world by bike. His self-shot film, made over four years in 32 countries – including Armenia, the Middle East, east Africa and Iran –covers the meteorologial and emotional hurdles he encounters along the way.• tomsbiketrip.com […]
[…] Janapar … Love, on a Bike, an independent film released on 24 January, is perfect for vicarious adventurers. It’s the story of Tom Allen, a British IT expert who gave up his career to travel the world by bike. His self-shot film, made over four years in 32 countries – including Armenia, the Middle East, east Africa and Iran –covers the meteorologial and emotional hurdles he encounters along the way.• tomsbiketrip.com […]
[…] In Janapar, Tom is deadpan, without fanfare, and real. I couldn’t recommend his film more high… […]
[…] Many of these people are now well known in cycling and adventure circles, publishing books, making films (to go with their books) and generally getting out there, doing cool stuff, and then talking about […]