Interview Highlight: Timothy and Tristan Kenyon - Changing Track

Sam Rickard speaks with Timothy and Tristan Kenyon, the film-makers behind “Changing Track” a documentary featuring 3 Paralympic cyclists. The documentary premiers 3rd December - International Day for People With Disabilities. The full interview will feature on Studio 1 On Wednesday evening.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:13):
This Wednesday, December 3rd is International Day for people with disabilities.
There'll be a film premiering. The film is called Changing Track.
It features three Paralympians Emily Petricola OAM, Cory Bonnington and
Kayne Paris. All you would have heard on Late Link
over the years. Actually, Emily, great friends with the late

(00:35):
Paige Greco who passed away a couple of weeks ago.
And with farewell during the week. Anyway, this film features
this coming Wednesday. Sam Rickard, who helps out with the
Ledge link and Focal Point and Studio One Wednesday nights,
caught up with the driving forces behind this particular film.
Timothy and Tristan Kenyon. Let's hear a little bit about

(00:57):
what they had to say.

S2 (01:00):
Hey, Sam, how's it going? Really good. Thanks for having us.
You might say that this film is, um, 25 or
24.5 years in the making, as it were. Very much so. Yeah. Look, uh,
25 years ago, Tim and I both went to the
Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000 and, um, I was about
15 years old at the time and, um, not a

(01:23):
very happy person. I was, um, quite depressed. You know,
I'd gone through, um, probably about 2 or 3 years
worth of quite severe cystic acne. So I was on, uh,
particular medication, which I'm fairly sure is banned now. In fact,
both of us were on that medication, aren't we? Unfortunately, yes.
And one of the big side effects of that medication
was depression as well. So it was a bit of
a double whammy. So we went yeah, we went to

(01:45):
the Paralympic Games. And it was such a such a
huge inspiration to see athletes from all around the world, um,
come and achieve amazing results despite their disabilities. So yeah,
that was that was a really big inspirational moment for
us and just a beacon of hope as well in
a in a dark time. So I'd say it's exactly
what we needed at that moment in our life. Just

(02:05):
a little bit beacon of hope. Yeah. Gordon said something
quite profound to me, a few weeks ago, one of
the screenings he mentioned. He likes to think of them
as athletes with a disability rather than disabled athletes. And
I really felt that at the time when I saw
the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, and working with them now as

(02:26):
well really feels that way. These are incredible athletes achieving
things at the same level as the Olympians, despite what
they've been through. And I think that's truly the amazing
story here.

S3 (02:38):
Indeed. So we'll talk about the movie now a bit more. So.
So you're, um, concentrating mainly on three different athletes, but
there are, of course, a few other people that sort
of will come through because, well, it's a documentary.

S2 (02:50):
Mhm.

S3 (02:51):
So maybe tell us a little bit about the three
people that you're concentrating on.

S2 (02:56):
So the three.

S4 (02:56):
Main, main athletes that we chose to focus on that
we have, um, Emily Petricola, who was um.

S2 (03:04):
Diagnosed at age 27 with uh, M.S. and went through
quite a period of depression there before, um, before moving
through that and discovering cycling. We also have, uh, Corey Boddington, who, um, experienced, um,
quite a few traumatic accidents in his, in his youth,

(03:25):
which resulted in a brain injury and affect effects to
his right side. And then, um, finally, we have, uh,
Cain Paris, who was born with albinism and as a result,
has grown up with low vision. So we have, uh, yeah,
there are three main focus. And then, of course, we have, um,
the rest of the Paris team as well, that sort

(03:47):
of feature in different ways in there and cover off
different sort of themes that we wanted to explore, such
as mental health and, um, and those sorts of things.

S3 (03:54):
So where and when did you shoot all of the footage?

S2 (03:58):
We started with, um, working in Paris. So, um, we
went across to, um, to be with the team in Bordeaux,
which was their, there. What's called there? Staging camp lead
up to the Paralympics. So that was, um, about, uh, August, uh,
last year, 2024. And, um, we wanted to have a

(04:19):
small footprint there. We didn't want to do any interviews.
We just wanted to sort of get to know them,
get some footage and make sure we, you know, covered
things like them going, going to and from events, those
sorts of things, and really just get to build that
rapport so that, um, when we came back, we sort
of worked backwards. And then, um, Tim and I, uh,
were filming all around Australia because obviously the team is

(04:42):
dotted all around Australia, so we got to fly all
around the country and visit them all in their different
states and, um, shoot different interviews and other bits and
pieces as well.

S3 (04:53):
So the film is coming out, um, on the 3rd
of December and literally coming out everywhere. I've had a
bit of a look around, uh, there. So if anyone
wants to, um, He's curious now and wants to go
and see it. What would they do?

S5 (05:08):
Well, um, it's available to watch, uh, either through Village
Cinemas or Event Cinemas. Uh, the two big chains that
are following it at the moment. But we've also got
some independents that have picked it up here and there
as well. So I think the best thing to do
is to look at your local cinema and look for
changing track. And, um, it's it should be showing somewhere
near you on the 3rd of December.

S2 (05:28):
And you could also jump on our website, which is
changing track and, uh, put, you know, if you need
to put a forward slash and then put tickets and, um,
we have everything listed on there as well. If you
need to have a quick link to, to, you know,
find the nearest one in your state.

S3 (05:43):
Now, a lot of our listeners here are blind or
visually impaired. So the big um, bugbear is audio description.
Will any of will any of this be audio described.

S5 (05:52):
So, uh, we're quite proud of uh, that side of
this film. When we went into it, we decided that
we wanted to make a film that was equally enjoyable
to somebody that couldn't actually, uh, Get the full experience
from from the visual side of things. So we put
a lot of work into working with our composer, Anthony Alomar,

(06:13):
who produced an absolutely wonderful music score for this film.
We worked with Rumble Studios to produce an incredible soundscape
that happens with it as well. So there are some
scenes in the film where we focused on the concept
of what we call flow state, which is that moment
when somebody is just in the zone, they're in their moment,
they're just on their bike and everything's going the way

(06:34):
they want it to go. We really want the audience
to feel that. And for somebody that can't, isn't able
to experience the visual side of it. We wanted to
enjoy it from an audio perspective as well. And finally,
what we also did was we produced, uh, an incredible
audio descriptive track for this film as well, uh, which
is available in the cinemas, um, at request with the

(06:56):
cinema chain.

S3 (06:57):
So to round things off, why should you go and
see this movie?

S5 (07:01):
I'd say from my perspective it reaches into, uh, the
the methods I use to get out of some dark
times in my life. When I was at a at
a rough point, I found that by being passionate about
something and finding a community that I could get right into, uh,
was basically my my path out of that dark time.

(07:23):
And I think that's what these guys have done as well.
They found a community that supports them and something that
they can be passionate about and make their life about,
and has helped them get through a difficult time. And
I think this film tells that story for anybody that's
going through some kind of darkness or a difficult time,
there is a way out. And, um, you just need
to find that thing you can be passionate about and

(07:45):
start to surround yourself with the right kind of people. As, uh,
Emily and Corey said in the film. And, uh, I
think that's why people should see this. It's a very
inspiring film filled with hope. At least that's what we
hope it gives.

S2 (07:57):
You know, often with films where we go, oh, okay,
December 3rd is the first date and it's usually playing
for a few weeks. Well, this is an independent documentary.
December 3rd is literally the date it's playing, and after
that it's not. It's not playing again. So unless, you know,
we're lucky enough to secure, you know, another cinema or two.
But not on this scale.

S5 (08:15):
I think as well, um, it's been quite an uphill
battle recently in the film industry to convince the public
to go to the cinema.

S3 (08:21):
Yeah.

S5 (08:22):
Everybody seems to. We keep getting asked the question over
and over again. Uh, so what are you going to
do with this? Uh, is it going to get released
on streaming? And, um, it's it's very important that people
continue to go to the cinema. That is the gauge
of success of a film still is is how how
it does at the cinema. And, uh, everything that happens

(08:42):
after this moment, uh, relies on how it does in this,
in the cinema on December 3rd. So, uh, we're really
pushing hard for December 3rd and trying to convince people
that's when you want to see it. It's made for
the big screen. Uh, and it's it's got a beautiful
surround sound music score as well. So even if people
aren't able to appreciate the full extent of the visual

(09:04):
side of it, we always both look at each other
in the cinema when it comes up to the rainforest
section in the film, as all the bellbirds are all
around you. It's just such a saturating experience to see
it at the cinema rather than on your mobile phone.

S3 (09:17):
Well, thank you guys. Um. And uh. Yeah, go go
go see it.

S5 (09:21):
Great.

S2 (09:22):
Thanks, Sam.

S5 (09:23):
Sam.

S1 (09:25):
You want to hear more, don't you? Well, you can
this Wednesday evening, 8:00 on studio one. If you can't
catch it, then you can also go to your favorite
podcast or streaming service and seek out Studio One. If
you want to find out more about the film. Go
to the website Changing track. Com. Simple as that. Changing track.

(09:48):
That was Tristan and Timothy Kenyon speaking to Sam Rickard. Sam,
thank you for that great work. And we look forward
to hearing the show in full on Wednesday night.