TFN Talks with Shams
French filmmaker, Big Kids Cartel co founder and TFN visual content creator Shams lets us in on what it’s like to be a full time Fearless Nomad. Over the years Shams has worked on campaigns for Saint Laurent, Red Bull, DJI and others. Shams and I have been in touch for a few years and finally met in person for the first time in Voss, Norway during Ekstremesportveko (Extreme Sports Week) 2019, where he was shooting a campaign for Norwegian extreme airsport collective Team OneCall.
1. Tell us about your passion. Describe what you do for a living.
I am film director who specializes in adventure and extreme sports film. I also work as a cinematographer, drone camera operator and editor. In other worlds I am a filmmaker, which is the best way to describe my job and my passion since I was a little kid. I like the process of creating images that tell a story to the audience.
My work covers a wide spectrum : web clips, commericals, television and cinema. I have been lucky to travel the world and to express my creativity in collaboration with brands who trust me and my team.
2. Tell us about your heritage, where you grew up. What experiences influenced you in becoming a filmmaker?
I am French but consider myself a world citizen. My dad was from Pakistan, and on my mother’s side, my grandmother is from Austria and my grandfather was French. That being said, I never travelled when i was a kid. I grow up in the South of France mainly (with a 2 years stay in Germany). But I remember have always been fascinated by my dad going to exotic locations around the world for his job. I really started to travel with my work as filmmaker though.
The filmmaking passion came to me like to many kids, by watching movies. I broke many vcr tapes just because I was watching them non stop! I saw Back To The Future when i was maybe 5 or 6 years old and clearly I remember myself at the cinema! When I was 13, i saw The Mask and wanted to create special effects like this. But it was the beginning of internet and finding information was not as easy as today. I went to a regular school. At 17/18 years old, I started filming all day, mostly stupid stuff with my best friends : parody, jokes, or tv reality before it even existed! If we had youtube at this time, we would be famous!! But that’s clearly where I learned how to film.
A few years later, I bought a real good camera, and started filming my friends doing what we were doing during the week end : climbing , paragliding, going outside in nature…
I quit my PhD to become jobless so then I would have to move my ass from the couch to find clients and projects and start living as filmmaker.
3. You live a pretty unique and remarkable lifestyle, driving around the world in your van which has both become your mobile home and your office. What are the pros and cons of living a nomadic lifestyle?
The pros are obviously the freedom you get. Home is where you park it! And I try to choose some pretty decent views in the most amazing places of the planet. It is priceless to wake up in the middle of Cappadocia surrounded by 100 hot balloons, or just on the beach of Goa under coconut trees. For free. In your own home. You get used to living with very little stuff, you can adapt yourself to many situations and it makes life much easier. Also, it can be a pretty good way to save some money when you don’t have a rent to pay.
The cons are mostly being far away from people you care about. You definitely feel lonely sometimes. But that’s pretty much the only bad thing I see with being a nomad. It is also super easy to not move your ass and just lay on the bed all day watching netflix. If you want things to be done, you have to do it!
4. You have worked on some pretty impressive campaigns over the years. Can you tell us about your favorite projects?
Few projects have been amazing for different reasons. I spent 3 months in Polynesia, sailing on a catamaran with paragliding pilots. The trip itself says everything. The people we meet on others boats or in village in Marquesas islands helped me see life differently. I also worked as a drone camera operator on a fashion commercial with an A list actress and well known models. Just being on such a big production is very fascinating and gives me confidence to say "I can do this as film director ». But many others projects have been remarkable : filming orcas in north of Norway, going on top of Kilimanjaro, flying and paragliding in Pakistan.. The list is long.
5. Tell us the most memorable story from your travels in the past five years.
Let’s talk about the last 5 months only!!!! So many things happened it is difficult to choose one. I met a French couple, also traveling in a van, in Iran. They were going in India (like me) with the goal of getting married in Pondicherry. We spent 2 months in Iran together, had great fun, and they ended up inviting me to the wedding. As my plan was not to have plans, I thought it would be super nice! After we entered Pakistan, while we were following a military escort in the Baluchistan province, their van broke. I towed them for 250km in the small roads in the mountain of Pakistan. We waited 10 days in a police station in Quetta in the snow to fix their van. We quickly reached Lahore to get the Indian visa. And just before Jaipur, their van broke again, unfixable this time. They decided to send the van by truck to Pondicherry and I offered them to finish the trip with all three of together (+ the cat) in my van. We drove 3000km across India in few days to reach their family in Chennai and they got married in Pondicherry. That’s the kind of adventure you don’t plan!
6. Do you have a dream project or any particular brand or athlete you would like to work with?
Yes many, but I can’t talk about it. But my ultimate dream would be to film from the International Space Station !
7. Do you think that you will ever settle in one place in a house or an apartment, or are you a fearless nomad for life?
I am open for everything. If I met a good girl, or if I have a lucrative job offer, I don’t mind settling somewhere, even in a big city. For me, nothing is permanent. All is subject to change. But obviously, without having good reasons, I would keep traveling the world with my van. I would like to ideally build a family, buy a sailing boat, and travel the world with my family and sail the oceans.
8. Does it ever get lonely on the road? Is it easy for you to adapt to and connect with different cultures?
Of course I get lonely. Whatever emotions I experience are more intense in the van. When you feel bad, you feel depressed. When you feel happy, it is the best day of your life. Also, being alone is nice to have full freedom, but I miss having someone by my side to share the adventures.
Adapting and connecting for me is more and more easy. It is just a kind of skill you get used to. But some country are easier than others! For example I would recommend to start traveling in a country with beautiful landscape but where you don’t need to talk to people so much. Like Norway for example. Most of people speak english and it is easy. After few trips, Iran will be the perfect place to get used to a very different culture. People are super nice and will help you. Pakistan is the same. And India can be a bit more special to experiment with so I would not recommend there as a first travel trip, but with a bit of experience, it is fantastic.
9. How many countries and how many cities have you visited? Has any particular place stood out for you?
I stopped counting. I would say between 50 and 60 countries maybe. My first trip to Pakistan was in 2013 has been for sure a game changing experience. I discovered that mass media gives just one point of view but the reality is different. It was also a place of some of the most beautiful mountains in the world… But many other places have been amazing : sunrise on top of Kilimanjaro, a week spent in a village of a Marquesas Islands, a road trip in west USA, my first northern lights in Alaska…
10. Is there a place on this planet where you haven’t been yet that you would like to go and why?
I have not been everywhere but I have my list! haha! The word is big! To name a few : Iceland, New Zeland, Hawaii, Kyrgyzstan, Central america, etc...
11. What are your passions and hobbies outside of filmmaking?
Obviously being in nature. Just hiking is nice. I am a paraglider pilot, a former climber and trail runner also. I would love to go back to skydiving. I can’t help myself, I’m always taking pictures and playing with my drone as well!
12. What would you like to accomplish in the next ten years?
I would like to start a family and get a catamaran.