The Chase

One man's dream from his garage to display at the Red Dot Design Museum. Charles Werb invented a machine that sails on the snow. He takes it with him on an expedition to Antarctica - and from that points, goes on a number of adventures with it across the globe.

  • Johan Nayar
    Director
    Participant, Loki's Game
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    38 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 15, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Antarctica, Finland, Norway, Qatar
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Johan Nayar

Johan Nayar is a British director and editor with roots in Guyana, Malaysia and India. After a 10 year hiatus from the film industry, he returned in 2016 to direct, act in and edit a comedy short called The Trouble With Gurus. He has made a number of short films recently including Online Order and Loki's Game which have gone on to win certain honours.

His film journey started at the New York Film Academy in 2001 and since then he has been involved in the industry. He has been dedicated to his craft for a number of years, and his recent work includes editing two feature documentaries and directing a number of short films.

He has directed a number of documentary shorts, and also edited the feature documentary, Absolutely Marvellous that opened up the British Urban Film Festival in 2022.

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Director Statement

This is a story about a protagonist whose concept of the bounds of reality are far beyond what would be considered normal. Born in South Africa, and later emigrating to Australia - he ended up having a midlife crisis and spent a year reflecting on a Brisbane beach.

During this time he put his mind to building a machine that sails on the snow (with all that famous Australian snow!) with a view to sailing it in Antarctica. He drew it out as a sketch. In his final visit to his dying father, he showed him the design, and his dad loved it and told him to go for it.

After the tragic loss of his dad months later, he returned to Cape Town for the funeral. Whilst returning back to Brisbane, the plane was forced to take a diversion south, due to wind conditions. The diversion took them over the Antarctic coastline which was clearly a sign for Charles to go for it.

Our film covers this story, and the adventures he had with the snowsailer called "Papa One", meeting his future wife, Margo, and evolving the design. With all the ups and downs of becoming an adventurer, the incessant training and the ordeals of lugging the snowsailer around the globe - I found Charles Werb's experiences as an inventor and adventurer truly inspiring.