Stomachs of Steel
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	sword swallowers, sword swallowing, x-ray technology, carnival acts, dare devils, death defying, sideshows, circus acts, Natasha Veruschka, Johnny Fox, Dai Andrews, Sideshow Bennie, Dan Meyer, Alex Zander

Film Overview

Directed By: Roz Mason Directed By: DJ STIPSON Written By: Roz Mason	Release Date: 2009-07-15 Running Time: 0:50 Content Rating: not yet rated	DVD Region: All Regions Media Format: DVD-R Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Audio Language(s): English
Genres: Documentary >> General

Synopsis

Imagine swallowing 24 inches of cold, hard steel. One false move could spell instant death. This is real and it’s deadly.

Stomachs of Steel is an intriguing insight into the lives of sword swallowers, practitioners of the most mysterious and dangerous of all performance art. It follows the story of one man who aspires to join this elite subculture, and by using state-of-the-art x-ray technology goes deep inside the bodies of the fearless men and women who risk their lives for their art.

Even among carnival people it’s regarded as closer to stupid than brave. "Fire-eating, the nails in the nose, those are things that, when done right, can be safe," says swallower Tom Robbins. “However sword-swallowing is stupidly dangerous."

So why do they do it? And how do they survive? To find out, Stomachs of Steel ventures deep inside both the sword-swallowing sub-culture and the performers themselves. This once-in-a-lifetime journey, using a minuscule camera attached to a sword and full motion x-ray fluoroscopy venture inside the bodies of those who perform this bizarre and dangerous act for a living.

Among the artists we meet are Natasha Verushka the exotic belly dancing sword swallower who almost bled to death after an accident in 2002; Dai Andrews, one of the few people in history to swallow a curved blade; Johnny Fox who has swallowed an incredible 15 blades at once; and Alex Tomaini a member of one of America’s greatest carnival dynasties and who, at 14, aims to become the world’s youngest sword swallower.

Most intriguingly, Stomachs of Steel discovers the humor, determination and passion that compels these fearless few to overcome pain and risk their lives, to keep their audience happy and to keep a dying art alive.

Warning: Sword swallowing is a life threatening activity. Many deaths and serious medical complications have arisen from attempting this most dangerous of performance arts. Sword swallowing should only be undertaken by a skilled, trained professional. If you are considering sword swallowing, don’t!

Longtail Distribution
NTSC 4:3; Total Running Time: 50-minutes
Produced by NHNZ for Discovery Channel
© 2004 Natural History New Zealand Ltd

Cast

narrator: K.C. Kelly

Crew

Production Company: Natural History New Zealand Ltd
Director: Roz Mason | bio
Award-winning documentary writer/director, Roz Mason’s films are characterized by edge-of-the-seat stories of extraordinary people, and are told with originality, flair and integrity.
Her critically acclaimed To Hell and Back – Tanja’s Story has sold to numerous territories and recently played to 1.2 million viewers in the UK, winning its week despite it’s 11.35pm timeslot!
Roz’s 16-year television career in drama, comedy, multi-media and documentaries, has taken her to Britain, the USA, Burma, the Pacific Islands and Australia, and all over her native New Zealand, not to mention, up mountains, down coalmines, out to sea, into state bunkers, and, in the case of her recent Discovery Channel documentary, Stomachs of Steel, deep inside the human body.
She is currently directing an investigation into the dark mysteries of the jury deliberation room.
Writer: Roz Mason | bio
Award-winning documentary writer/director, Roz Mason’s films are characterized by edge-of-the-seat stories of extraordinary people, and are told with originality, flair and integrity.
Her critically acclaimed To Hell and Back – Tanja’s Story has sold to numerous territories and recently played to 1.2 million viewers in the UK, winning its week despite it’s 11.35pm timeslot!
Roz’s 16-year television career in drama, comedy, multi-media and documentaries, has taken her to Britain, the USA, Burma, the Pacific Islands and Australia, and all over her native New Zealand, not to mention, up mountains, down coalmines, out to sea, into state bunkers, and, in the case of her recent Discovery Channel documentary, Stomachs of Steel, deep inside the human body.
She is currently directing an investigation into the dark mysteries of the jury deliberation room.
Director: DJ STIPSON | bio
David Stipsen is a highly talented cameraman who has worked on a range of series, documentaries, music videos and title sequences. His credits for documentaries include Vinnis Jones for BBC Omnibus, Kill or Cure for Discovery Health, Animal Imitators for TLC Discovery, and Return to Romania for Television NZ (Media Peace Award 1999). He has just completed filming Stomachs of Steel for Discovery. David’s skill as a documentary cameraman has been enhanced by his experience working on television dramas and many short films in New Zealand.
Executive Producer: Andrew Waterworth | bio
Andrew's career in television spans a quarter of a century and most kinds of factual television production, from current affairs, social issues and the environment to science and technology.

Until 2000 he was based in Australia where he worked as a series producer for Beyond Productions on such successful series as Ultrascience, 26 x ½ hour for The Learning Channel, and The Human Journey, a 3 x 1 hour series for ABC and The Learning Channel.

His work as writer and series producer for The Human Journey earned him Australia’s most prestigious science journalism award, the 2000 Michael Daley Eureka Prize for excellence in science journalism. He also produced two Science Frontiers documentaries for The Learning Channel — The Science of Sin and Sixth Sense.

From 1992 to 1996 Andrew worked as a reporter and presenter on the internationally popular series Beyond 2000, filming in more than 30 countries.

Most recently Andrew has worked as the Executive Producer on a number of NHNZ programmes including Shark Gordon for Animal Planet, Menacing Waters for Discovery Primetime and Body Wars and Microbe Invasion with The Learning Channel.

He is currently working on the 26-part The Most Extreme series for Animal Planet and The Curse of the Elephant Man for Discovery Health Channel. He is currently executive-producing a 26-part series called The Most Extreme and has just completed The Curse of the Elephant Man.
Composer: Bruno Barrett-Garnier; Craig Sengelow
Picture Editor: Marilyn Copland

Film Overview

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