Sunshine Superman

Look, up in the sky! It's Carl Boenish, the father of BASE jumping! Carl is sunshine personified, a man whose enthusiasm for skydiving – and life – leads him to spectacular leaps. This masterful biopic takes us back to the late 70s, when Carl casts off his pedestrian life as a Hughes Aircraft engineer and meets his soulmate and diving partner Jean. Fortunately, Carl’s passion was “freefall cinematography,” and much of the film’s breathtaking imagery comes from 16mm footage he took while falling from cliffs and skyscrapers, camera strapped to his helmet. Despite setbacks from naysaying park rangers and lawyers, Carl continued to bubble over with good cheer. On a Norwegian mountain range in 1984, Jean and Carl broke the BASE jumping world record. The next day, disaster struck. He would have wanted us to climb the walls and keep going, Jean tells us. SUNSHINE SUPERMAN celebrates the human spirit, in Carl’s name. – B.B.