Db x Looking Sideways Fund: the finalists
Meet our 2025 Db X LS Fund five shortlisted finalists, and find out about their ideas
One of my absolute favourite things about Looking Sideways is passing on what I’ve learned over the three decades I’ve been working as a journalist, writer, podcaster, and co-owner of my agency
.That’s the whole idea behind Insights, for example, the Looking Sideways section exclusively for my paid subscribing community, where you’ll find exclusive blogs, podcasts, video chats, guest posts and articles on exactly this theme.
Here’s a quick sample:
And it’s why I’m always so fired up about the Db x Looking Sideways Fund, my collab with the Scandinavian luggage legends, through which we offer a practical way to help new creatives and storytellers get into the industry.
As usual, the response to this year’s Fund has been predictably amazing. So myself, the Db team, and our brilliant judges Chris Burkard, Pacha Light and Lu Medearis, have spent the last months whittling down our initial 300 entries to a shortlist of five.
And now - drumroll - we are ready to introduce our five finalists to the world. Read on to find out more about their ideas, and for more information about what happens next:
The finalists
1. Will Nangle & Tristan Kennedy
Idea:
We want to make a short film about Gaver—a ski resort, abandoned because of climate change, that's incredibly visually arresting. It looks like Italy's answer to Chernobyl.
Our "main character" would be Stefano Marca, 56, who refused to leave. Instead, he started a small, but successful ski touring business among the ruins, showcasing a more climate-friendly approach to winter sports.
We hope to shine a light on wider issues affecting the winter sports industry. Dozens of Italian ski resorts have been forced to close in recent years—a harbinger of what’s to come all across the Alps as the climate crisis worsens.
Currently, Europe’s ski towns are dependent on what activists label “a mountain monoculture.” Sticking plaster solutions, like building more snow cannons, or new lift infrastructure at higher altitudes, won’t help, according to those we’ve spoken to. Gaver provides an inspiring alternative model (albeit on a small scale).
We would feature interviews with grassroots Italian organisations like The Outdoor Manifesto (who lead a campaign against building new ski lifts in Italy) and Legambiente (the Italian equivalent of Greenpeace).
To avoid the unrelenting bleakness of the topic, we would also focus on the hopes of future generations, as embodied by Marca's daughter, Vanessa. She grew up touring at Gaver and is aiming to compete in next year's Milano-Cortina Olympics where ski touring will make its debut.
Our film’s working title is “The Last Resort?”
Judge’s feedback:
“I really vibe with this, addressing climate change, run down old ski resort with a character who stayed for change”. - Luis Medearis
2. Emily Cooney
Idea:
My film project is about people with type 1 diabetes doing remote outdoor sports. Paragliding, climbing, surfing, alpinism and ultra-running. The aim of this documentary is to break limitations and raise awareness. By sharing fun experiences and stories of success with type 1 diabetes in outdoor sports we hope to encourage those with T1 to access natural landscapes and strengthen their self-belief, self-reliance and independence that are inherently learnt in these environments.
Judge’s feedback:
“Getting people outside and fostering interaction with nature/adventure is great mission - if a film about type 1 diabetes outdoor inspires other people with the same challenge to improve their quality of life and step into the outdoor world, that is an amazing impact to support”.
- Chris Burkard
3. Lisa-Marie Bosbach
Idea:
Genre: Experimental Documentary / Cinematic Diary
Logline: Melting Voices-Time Remembered is a cinematic meditation on climate change, blending scientific solutions, community voices, and an artistic soundscape of the melting Morteratsch Glacier. Through nonlinear storytelling, it captures an immersive journey into the heart of a vanishing landscape, intertwining personal narratives, visual poetry, and expert insights to envision a future shaped by collective memory and visions.
Judge’s feedback:
“What a beautifully poetic and dynamic project that explores such an unknown sound. Love the pitch but also the refreshing multimedia concept for the release”.
- Pacha Light
4. Bella Bunce
Idea:
Yvette Curtis has always been a keen observer of the world’s missing pieces. Her adoptive father came to Britain from Mauritius as part of the Windrush Generation and this history, as well as her own experiences of growing up as a mixed heritage child, initiated a deep interest in colonial powers and the underrepresentation of people of colour.
While facing hurdles in school and struggling with a sense of belonging, she developed an understanding of how a connection to nature and our bodies can serve as the catalyst for profound transformation.
Upon finishing school and after several roles in different industries, she found her calling as a personal trainer, dedicating herself to helping others cultivate strength.
Her journey took a pivotal turn with the creation of Wave Wahines, a space where women and girls from all backgrounds and lived experiences find solace in the embrace of the ocean. Alongside this passion project turned CIC, Yvette assumed roles as a UN Delegate, a core member of the North Devon Surfing Reserve team and an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager at Surfers Against Sewage, all while navigating the emotional complexities of raising a young family.
The original catalyst for Wave Wahines came from Yvette’s desire to create a safe and inclusive space for her child Aiden, who was assigned female at birth, to learn to surf. Soon after, Aidan came out as transgender and together they have expanded the organisation's mission to include dedicated sessions for trans and non-binary young people, which Aiden will lead..
Over the past few years Yvette has set out on her own journey of self exploration. Following a search for her biological parents, she was able to connect with a number of relatives, including three siblings she never knew she had. Upon finding them and starting an online relationship with them, she was amazed to discover they all shared a common mission with a commitment to inclusivity right at the center of their work and lives. She also discovered that her father, whom she initially thought from Pakistan, is actually from Bangladesh. Yvette had been following the story of a fellow surf organisation based over there: Bangla surf girls, and so the idea of a trip started to form in her mind. Yvette could go and connect with the surf community whilst taking on a journey of her own heritage, meeting her family and broadening her understanding of her biological roots.
This journey has allowed Yvette a new perspective on her own sense of self, which will be a primary focus of the film’s narrative arc.
The story will begin with the introduction of Yvette, her passions, her family, her life in north Devon. She’ll then discuss her upbringing, her childhood and schooling - detailing difficulties she faced and the beginnings of her passions. We’ll then move on to her early career as a PT and then her experiences of becoming a mother, how this in turn inspired her work. Next we’ll delve into the creation of Wave Wahines and an exploration on the many strands of the organisation. This will be the largest section of the film, introducing secondary characters such as Yvette’s son, Wave wahine members and more. Yvette will guide us through the timeline of the group and describe how it has evolved and grown, with montage footage of the various elements of the group. We’ll then discuss her own experiences with water and discuss self discovery, leading in to her biological family. At this point Yvette will leave the interview in order to head to Bangladesh. Here we’ll switch to documentary style footage with in situ interviews, handheld filming for effect and various modes of transport captured to emulate a journey and a new environment. We’ll want to focus on the raw emotions that will accompany Yvette’s initial meeting of family members, and her own self discovery.
Judge’s feedback:
“This sounds as if it will document how all it takes is one person to make a significant impact. The strength of the human spirit impacting a community is always a story worth telling”.
- Luis Medearis
5. Lena Drappela
Idea:
Most of us have to work. And a lot of us love what we do. But work isn’t everything.
Second Shift is a photography project about the unsung athletes of North Wales—people who bring the same drive, focus, and energy to their jobs as they do to their outdoor passions. Firefighters who save lives by day and send hard routes by night. Scientists who push the limits of research and their own endurance on the trails. Café owners who fuel their communities before dawn and chase waves at sunset.
This isn’t just about what happens after hours. It’s about the full picture—who we are in our careers, who we become outside of them, and how both worlds shape us. It’s about the makers, the fixers, the thinkers, and the doers—people who give it everything, whether they’re in the workshop or the wilderness.
This project isn’t about professionals with sponsorships and medals. It’s about the people who train before dawn, ride after work, and squeeze in adventure whenever they can. It’s about the rest of us.
Judge’s feedback:
“Great concept and mediums to work with in print and a BTS short documentary about the making of. There are SO many accomplished outdoor adventurers that work a very ‘normal’ job and I love the idea of highlighting these people. It’s a great opportunity to create something relatable and hopefully inspires others in similar work positions that they can also develop or continue their recreational pursuits”.
- Chris Burkard
What happens next?
Next, we’re going to arrange short calls with our five finalists so we can find out more about the project and the people behind the ideas.
Here are some of the things we’ll be interested in finding out:
- Why do you want to make this?
- Where did the idea come from?
- What are the main challenges you face in bringing this idea to life?
- How do you see us helping?
- Are you clear on this idea will be distributed, and on what channel or platform?
- Who is the main audience for this? Why will they care?
After that, we’ll pick two winners, agree funding, announce them and their ideas, match them with mentors, help them create a plan, and get things moving. From then on, its an ongoing project we’ll be documenting IRL and on our social channels until release.
So that’s where we are. If you didn’t make it through - thanks so much for entering! If you have any questions, please let me know below:
Wow - feels pretty mad to see my life on this list 💜 thanks to the panel for believing in my story under the care of Maddie and Bella to put us in the final 5 - that’s crazy (& a little scary!)