Films | Jude Kriwald - Explorer, Speaker, Filmmaker

Click here to watch the full film (21 mins)

Alone Across Gola - Multi-Award Winning Short Documentary

Year: 2025

Runtime: 21 minutes

Key Credits: Filmed, written and directed by Jude Kriwald. Edited by Christian Burnett

Short Synopsis: Alone Across Gola is Jude’s gripping debut short documentary, following his solo crossing of Liberia’s Gola rainforest, an untracked wilderness where he faced heat, hunger, and isolation after his guide ran off with his bike and money. Filmed entirely alone, the journey is both physically demanding and emotionally charged, offering an unvarnished reflection on ambition, vulnerability, and what it means to chase a dream he thought he’d left behind. With quiet authenticity and raw self-filming, Jude invites us deep into the rainforest, and into the deeper question of what we risk when we finally act on our true calling.

Reviews: “An inspirational odyssey” – Joe Simpson, Touching the Void

“Inspiring, moving, and at times challenging, Alone Across Gola is a refreshingly honest account of finding adventure on the blank parts of the map.” – Dr Niall McCann, BBC and PBS presenter and broadcaster

Read more about the film, including a director’s statement, on its Film Freeway page.

Awards

New Zealand Mountain Film & Book Festival

Winner – Best Film on Adventurous Sports and Lifestyles

BIFA Qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival

Winner – Best Micro Budget Film

Nominated – Best First Time Filmmaker

London Global Film Awards

Winner – Best Short Documentary

Eurosport & Tous en Selle

Winner – “King of the Pedals” Award

Selected to tour 50 French cities

English Riviera Film Festival

Winner – Best Documentary

Winner – Audience Award for Best Film

Cambridge Short Film Festival

Nominated – Best Documentary

Kendal Mountain Festival

Official Selection

Bicycle Film Festival – New York & Japan

Official Selection

Between the Blue and Green Film Festival

Winner – Best Wellbeing Film

More awards, nominations and selections on the Alone Across Gola Film Freeway page.

Screenings

Alone Across Gola is currently touring the global film festival circuit, with screenings in New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Capetown all in the calendar.

Please keep an eye on Jude’s Instagram for the latest screening dates.

To date, Alone Across Gola has screened at the Royal Geographic Soceity, Alpkit’s Big Shakeout, the Armchair Adventure Festival, all accompanied with a talk by Jude and Q&A.

If you’d like to organise a screening and/or talk/Q&A, please contact Jude.