Armand Duplantis Feature From ‘The Real Mo Farah’ Producer Red Bull Studios Picked Up By SVT Sweden

19.12.2022 - 17:13 / deadline.com

EXCLUSIVE: The Real Mo Farah producer Red Bull Studios’ documentary about world record pole vaulter Armand Duplantis has been picked up for broadcast premier by SVT Sweden.

Born to Fly had its theatrical release across 15 Swedish cities in October and will be handed a small screen premier on SVT1 and STV Play in January, while it is also being shopped internationally.

Born to Fly tells the story of an athlete who is considered the greatest pole vaulter of all time at the tender age of just 23, having broken six world records and won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, European Championships and World Championships.

It is directed by up-and-comer Brennan Robideaux, who followed the U.S.-born Swedish athlete for six years as he rose from child prodigy to record breaker.

“Born to Fly is a close portrait of Armand Duplantis’ life during his childhood and teenage years – before the breakthrough,” explained SVT Documentary Unit EP Charlotte Hellström. “It provides unique insight into the personal doubts, challenges and fame behind the headlines of one of the world’s biggest athletes.”

The feature was produced by Robideaux’s Robi Creative with Red Bull Studios, the award-winning producer of BBC doc The Real Mo Farah.

That doc generated headlines over the summer as it revealed that Farah, Britain’s most successful track runner of all time, had been illegally trafficked to the UK to be a domestic servant at the age of nine. Farah had previously said he came to the UK with his mother and two brothers to live with his father but his father was in fact killed in the Somali Civil War.