A short documentary about climbing, community and finding a place where you belong.
Climbing can change the way you feel about yourself. There’s the satisfaction of working out a route, the trust you put in someone holding the rope, and the friendships that grow from spending time together at the wall or out on the rock.
But feeling welcome in those spaces isn’t something everyone can take for granted. For plus-sized climbers, something as fundamental as finding a harness that fits can become a barrier to taking part. Equipment, teaching and assumptions about what a climber looks like all shape who feels able to walk through the door—and who comes back.
These are the questions behind Every Body Outdoors, a documentary we’re making at Wild Light Films with climber, community organiser and Every Body Outdoors co-founder Kumbi Kariwo.
Kumbi has an ambitious goal: to help establish inclusive climbing communities across the UK, led by local volunteers who understand why those spaces are needed.
Our film will follow her as she brings those volunteers together and supports them in building communities of their own. Each person will arrive with different experiences of climbing, different reasons for getting involved and their own ideas about what a welcoming space could look like.
Alongside Kumbi’s wider work, we plan to follow one volunteer more closely. Through their experience, we’ll explore the practical and personal work involved in getting a community off the ground: finding a venue, inviting people along, preparing for that first session and wondering whether anyone will turn up.
Then comes the work of keeping it going. We’re interested in what happens over time—whether people return, friendships form and a group becomes somewhere its members feel at home.
Our proposed approach is to follow Kumbi and the volunteers over approximately a year, shaping their experiences into a 15-minute documentary. The planned journey will bring the groups together for a shared outdoor climbing day, offering a chance to see the connections that have grown along the way.
Jamie will direct and edit the film, with Kumbi co-producing and Owain Kelly composing the original score. We’re aiming to complete the film in autumn 2027, with room for the story and filming schedule to develop as the communities take shape.
We’ll share updates here as the project moves forward.
If this story matters to you, we’d love your support. Visit our crowdfunder to find out more about the project and how you can help us bring it to the screen.
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