Private Project

You Can't Get There From Here

An international team of 4 friends undertake the Plymouth to Dakar Challenge a ‘banger rally’ which annually shadows the route of the Paris Dakar Rally. They acquire two old Mercedes vans and take a 3 week route through Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia. They arrange to transport prosthetic limbs for a Bristol based charity to a clinic in Gambia providing help to amputees. Interviewing a number of experts on the 30 year conflict between Morocco and the Saharawi natives, they arrange to meet with Saharawi ‘dissidents’ in the Western Sahara to expose their oppression by Moroccan authorities who they claim are occupying their land and profiting from their national resources. In doing so they evade detection and expulsion by Moroccan authorities and meet UN envoys who are overseeing the conflict. Struggling to get the vehicles to their destination, they team up with two adventurers driving a fire engine and a crazy Frenchman while crossing the minefields in the Sahara Desert. They encounter a diversity of landscapes, people and cultures enroute whilst exploring the nature of tourism, charity and how a disregard of human rights in favour of commercial interests threatens a new war in the Sahara desert.

  • Daniel Petkoff
    Director
  • Peter Shields
    Director
  • Daniel Petkoff
    Producer
  • Peter Shields
    Producer
  • Barre Browne
    Key Cast
  • Sidi Breika
    Key Cast
  • Christoph Chambery
    Key Cast
  • Bachir Dhikli
    Key Cast
  • John Gurr
    Key Cast
  • Karsten Hentschel
    Key Cast
  • Bob Jabbie
    Key Cast
  • Gabu Jarjue
    Key Cast
  • Musa Kandeh
    Key Cast
  • Mahmoud Lemaadel
    Key Cast
  • Mbarek Mamain
    Key Cast
  • Julian Nowill
    Key Cast
  • Daniel Petkoff
    Key Cast
  • Angela Richter
    Key Cast
  • Muhamed Samasa
    Key Cast
  • Teddy Seymour
    Key Cast
  • Peter Shields
    Key Cast
  • Danielle Smith
    Key Cast
  • Bud Tilton
    Key Cast
  • Phil Tunstall
    Key Cast
  • Tom Williams
    Key Cast
  • Adam Yates
    Key Cast
  • Sir David Stewart
    Key Cast
  • Dean Brodrick
    Music
  • Daniel Petkoff
    Photogrraphy
  • Peter Shields
    Photogrraphy
  • Karsten Hentschel
    Additional Photography
  • Angela Richter
    Additional Photography
  • Teddy Seymour
    Additional Photography
  • Peter Shields
    Editing
  • Daniel Petkoff
    Editing
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 35 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Gambia, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Spain, United Kingdom, Western Sahara
  • Language:
    English, French, Other
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director - Daniel Petkoff, Peter Shields
Director Statement

Peter Shields has been talking about the Banjul challenge for about 10 years. As his mid life crisis has developed, he finally decided to commit in order to avoid further procrastination. He is a teacher and lecturer who has travelled in Europe, The Middle east, Africa and South America, but never with the degree of uncertainty and lack of guaranteed arrival that the Banjul Challenge presents. Currently dabbling in film making, he hopes to make his first competent documentary (on behalf of Amnesty International's campaigns in North West Africa) with his friend and co-driver Daniel. In the spirit of existentialism, it's at least a chance to do something with a greater degree of authenticity than life might typically present. After all, what could go wrong, and why would it matter?

Daniel Petkoff met Peter while climbing mount Kilimanjaro in 2003. He has been listening to Peter talk about the Banjul challenge for almost as long as he has been talking about it. Daniel has zero knowledge of car mechanics but he is a very good backseat driver and he really does have a degree in cinematography. He also makes a mean chai and likes to contemplate the passage of time.