Marah Strauch

A successful visual artist, specializing in installation pieces and experimental film, Marah Strauch almost stumbled into making documentary films by accident. Her father was a renowned rock climber and her uncle, Mike Allen, was a BASE jumper and aerial cinematographer. After her uncle died in an automobile accident, she discovered a stash of old film and VHS at his house that sparked her imagination. As she shifted through the raw footage Strauch was stuck by its beauty and in particular the films of Carl Boenish, who many consider the father of BASE jumping. Intrigued by the story she contacted Jean Boenish uncovering yet more unseen footage. Working her way through over 250 hours of material was a long and complicated process, while laboring on what would become "Sunshine Superman" (2014) she attended Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School in 2010. She also edited commercials and co-produced feature length documentary "Sick Mick and the Boys" (2013) a tale of redemption as serial offender Mike Charlton follows in his father's footsteps, cleans up his life and attempts to break the motorcycle land speed record. After eight years assembling the footage and carrying out extra interviews, "Sunshine Superman" was finally ready for release. It was a real labor of love with Strauch not only writing and directing but also editing, producing and handling set and art direction for the re-enacted sequences. It caused an instant buzz on the film festival circuit, and was picked up by Universal for international distribution.