Steep&Brew Audience Award: Best Documentary

2010 Wisconsin Film Festival

The 2010 Steep & Brew Audience Award for Best Documentary at this year's Wisconsin Film Festival is Paddle to Seattle: Journey Through the Inside Passage, directed by JJ Kelley (a Wisonsin native) and Josh Thomas.

The film follows J.J. and Josh as they conquer the 1300 mile inside passage from Alaska to northern Washington State in homemade wooden kayaks (top speed: 3 miles per hour). The journey lasts almost a hundred days, and becomes more grueling than the kayakers expected. But they never lose their sense of humor, and it’s great fun joining them in their adventure. Producer/editor Ben Gottfried is also a UW–Madison alumnus. Click here  to see a trailer.