Sunshine Superman is the immersive love story of Carl and Jean Boenish, the couple who invented BASE jumping (jumping with parachutes from fixed objects) in the1980's.
Carl Boenish, a filmmaker as well as skydiver, religiously chronicled the experimental early days of BASE in exquisitely beautiful 16mm film, often with large cameras mounted to their heads to document a bird’s-eye view of the jump. His detailed and personal audio recordings give a glimpse into the mind of a genius, madman and innovator who believed deeply in the power of the moving image.
Director Marah Strauch’s visually stunning debut is an intimate portrait of risk takers who truly, passionately lived and loved. The film is told without narration, and plays out like a theatrical feature, taking the viewer on an emotional ride of beauty and tragedy. At the pinnacle of Carl and Jean’s achievements they together broke the BASE jumping Guinness World Record in 1984 on the Norwegian 'Troll Wall' mountain range. Incredibly, within days, triumph was followed by disaster.