Strel 'wrongly projected' in documentary

Big River Man, a documentary about the Slovenian endurance swimmer Martin Strel tackling the Amazon river, took home an award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. But its principal subject Strel, an ageing pot-bellied environmentalist, is not impressed.

Despite being in the Middle East to promote Big River Man at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, the 55-year-old Strel says the documentary presents a wrong image about him.
The trailers of the documentary claim that Strel survived the perilous feat by drinking two bottles of wine a day.

"The documentary shows me as a big drinker and gambler. I drink medicinal special wine which is available only in Slovenia and it has no alcohol or sugar in it. The documentary focused on the wrong aspects. By swimming across the Amazon river, I wanted to bring attention to the environmental problems and the pollution in these rivers. But the documentary did not help," says Strel.

Dubbed often as the "hero in a Speedo", Strel has the distinction of being the first person in the world to swim the entire length of the Amazon river and has previously swum across the 3,004 kilometre Danube and the 3,797 kilometre Mississippi.

"I am happy that it won an award, but I am unhappy about the alcoholic image. But let me tell you — the film presented me as a totally wasted guy. It is not 100 per cent accurate. The problem is I am not a filmmaker, so we didn't have the editing rights," says Strel.