In 1995, a few years after Paul Blom and Philip Francis met at Film School, they ventured out to document one of South Africa's largest motorcycle rallies, the Buffalo Rally in Oudtshoorn (home of the Cango Caves and thousands of ostriches).
Philip traveled up on his motorcycle and Paul by car - never a biker himself, many friends and family members have had the two-wheel bug.
The noise, colour and decadence of such an event had to offer up some interesting visuals. Alcohol and doughnuts (of the rubber & asphalt kind), together with burnouts and mayhem are high on the menu. But with it all, the event usually goes off without serious incidents (except for some traffic violation arrests in town outside of the camping site where the event is held). Together with the bike chaos and exhibitionism, interviews with organizers and bikers attending the rally paint a raw picture of what it's all about.
Besides hooligans and boozers, you also get the serious motorcycle aficionados and Christian biker clubs as a counterbalance.
Paul used music from his band Voice Of Destruction as a soundtrack, not only as a matter of convenience, but also because the music's energy fits the vibe of the rally. During 1995, desktop digital editing suites like the Macintosh Media 100 had limited disc space, mainly because it was so damn expensive! So, Paul edited the documentary in stages, dumped down to Betacam, and assembled on a Betacam master.
The show was premiered at a club meeting of Buffalo Rally organizer Luderick Jacoby, and was also screened at the Purple Turtle. Most copies were sold by mail order.
This production was under the Flowerpower Underground Productions banner which has morphed into Flamedrop Pictures.