Private Project

The Road to Patagonia

The lives of two strangers are changed forever when they cross paths on the surfing adventure of a lifetime, discovering love, downshifting and four charismatic horses.

WINNER OF 'BEST FILM' + 'BEST DOCUMENTARY' awards at Byron Bay International Film Festival (World Premiere).

WINNER OF 'AUDIENCE CHOICE' award at Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

WINNER OF VIEWER'S CHOICE award - Florida Surf Film Festival

  • Matty Hannon
    Director
    Good Wood in PNG, Heal Country, Trouble in Paradise, Save Martha Lavinia, The Emu and the Platypus, Gumbaynggirr Country, Fire Stick Farmers, Island Home, Rivertree, Van Diemens Land, (all short docs)
  • Matty Hannon
    Writer
  • Michael Balson
    Writer
    Mad Max 2, On The Trail of Genghis Khan, Adventure, Volcano: Creation and Destruction, Coral Triangle
  • Tye Markey
    Producer
  • Tye Markey
    Executive Producers
  • Amanda Lavoie
    Executive Producers
  • Matty Hannon
    Key Cast
  • Heather Hillier
    Key Cast
  • Harriet Clutterbuck A.C.E
    Editor
    The Bentley Effect, The Meaning of Vanlife, Permanent Camping, The Embassy, My Home the Block
  • Michael Balson
    Editor
    Mad Max 2, On The Trail of Genghis Khan, Adventure, Volcano: Creation and Destruction, Coral Triangle
  • Daniel Norgren
    Soundtrack
    Kerosene Dreams, Outskirt, Horrifying Deatheating Bloodspider, Buck, The Green Stone, Alabursy, Wooh Dang
  • Lisa Oneill
    Addtional Music
    Pothole in the Sky
  • Pharis and Jaeson Romero
    Addtional Music
  • X.Y.R
    Addtional Music
    Lost Soundtrack
  • Julianna Barwick
    Addtional Music
    Hidden Away, Room 104, Song to Son, Lucky Them
  • Amanaz
    Addtional Music
    Africa
  • Paul Najar
    Atmos Dolby and Re-recording Mixer
    TBC
  • Jenny Lalor
    Legals
    TBC
  • Dawid Herda
    Visual Effects
  • Aman Lepon Salakirrat
    Cultural sensitivity consultants
  • Diego Resendez
    Cultural sensitivity consultants
  • Robert Baty
    Cultural sensitivity consultants
  • Patricio Luis Felipe Solar Silva
    Cultural sensitivity consultants
  • Diego Resendez
    Translations
  • Rob Henry
    Translations
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 20, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, United States
  • Language:
    English, Indonesian, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    RED Komodo, Sony A7s, Canon 5d
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Byron Bay International Film Festival
    Byron Bay
    Australia
    October 26, 2022
    World Premiere
    Best Film + Best Documentary
  • Screenwave International Film Festival
    Coffs Harbour and Bellingen
    Australia
    Nominated for Ferguson Award
  • Gold Coast Film Festival
    Gold Coast
    Australia
  • Maui Film Festival

    United States
    International Premiere
  • San Francisco Green Film Festival

    United States
  • Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

    Australia
    Audience Choice Award
  • Florida Surf Film Festival

    United States
    Best Documentary (TBA)
Director Biography - Matty Hannon

Matty Hannon is a regionally based director (Bellingen Shire, Australia) with experience producing documentaries in challenging environments across 6 continents. He runs a small, multi-award winning production company, and holds a Master of Creative Media (Documentary Filmmaking) from RMIT University in Melbourne.

Hannon's debut feature documentary - THE ROAD TO PATAGONIA - recently held its World Premiere at the Byron Bay International Film Festival where it won the awards of 'Best Film' and 'Best Documentary'.

His undergraduate degree in Ecology and several years of experience in the fields of conservation, disaster relief and cultural resilience in remote Sumatra led him to pick up a camera, which continues to influence his work to this day.

The Surfers Journal (USA) describes him as:

‘...the type of contributor that makes this magazine what it is. Passionate and ridiculous. Adventurous to the brink of absurdity. It’s an honour that we get to share such experiences.’

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

THE ROAD TO PATAGONIA is a physical and spiritual odyssey to better understand our place in nature.

Not only do I believe in the power of adventure to coax us out of our digital lives - to reconnect ourselves with the Earth and each other - but I believe in the power of an emotive documentary, an immersive experience that inspires the audience into self-reflection and action.

As a verité documentary THE ROAD TO PATAGONIA includes 16 years of footage from my life. Some moments were difficult to include, being so personal and vulnerable. However, overall they were incredibly privileged times to have documented, and despite investigating themes of colonialism and globalisation, the film aims to instil an uplifting sense of hope and positivity in the audience. In a way, I hope it’s a small antidote to the heaviness of the world in recent years.

Some of the interviewees included in the film speak to the harsh consequences of an ancient paradigm conflicting with the dominant modern system. Indeed we live in polarising times; the mainstream west still embedded in a Cartesian philosophy that says humans are separate from and superior to nature, all the while accepting the ideas of dualism; of man vs nature, man vs woman, white vs black, right vs left etc.

THE ROAD TO PATAGONIA investigates a philosophy born epochs before René Descartes or even the Abrahamic religions, a complex web of life and ideas that are still thriving today, and it argues that to truly bring ourselves into harmony with the natural world, we must slow down, and return to seeing humanity as a part of it.

As you’ll see in the third and final act of the film, slowing down will not only help humanity and the more-than-human-world, but it might also be the most beautiful adventure of our lives.