Legs of Steel and Red Bull turn the camera on themselves in We Can’t Not

Innsbruck-based production house Legs of Steel and Red Bull Media House are releasing We Can’t Not, a 2026 ski film that flips the genre’s usual formula by making the making of the film its central subject. Directed by Adam Gendle, the feature follows freeskier-filmmaker Paddy Graham and an all-star cast over two years of filming, culminating in an expedition to Alaska, freeriding’s most feared and beautiful proving ground

Paddy's spent his whole life making ski films. But explaining why he's compelled to do so? Not so much.

Until now. "We Can't Not" is a ski film about making a ski film. One that his whole family can understand. Well, that's the idea anyway. And what better way to do this than by rounding up a who's who of the world's best skiers and pointing them at Alaska, the most feared and equally beautiful proving ground in freeride?

What follows is two years of long waits, gear anxiety, thumping helicopter blades, and moments that either fall apart or turn into something extraordinary.Narrated by Sean Bean, expect introspection, snow nerds, raw talent and the occasionally terrifying stab at the only question that matters: Why do we do this?

A ski film about filming a ski film

The premise is disarmingly simple: Graham has spent his career making ski films but has struggled to explain to family and friends why the pursuit is worth the risk, expense and uncertainty. We Can’t Not is his attempt to answer that question by taking the audience behind the scenes of the production itself

Rather than presenting a polished reel of untouched lines and perfect landings, the film embraces the messy reality of big-mountain filmmaking: long weather holds, gear anxiety, helicopter logistics, failed attempts and the moments when plans either collapse or become extraordinary. The title itself captures the compulsive pull at the heart of the project—the sense that these athletes and filmmakers cannot simply choose not to do it

“Throughout my entire career, I have tried to explain to friends, family and strangers the magic of working as a professional freeskier,” Graham says in the film’s director’s statement. “This project is as close as you can get to joining us over two years of making our next ski movie.”

Alaska as the ultimate test

Alaska is positioned as the film’s emotional and visual centrepiece, with the production also filming in Whistler, Canada; Ahrntal, Italy; Helsinki, Finland; Wanaka, New Zealand; Innsbruck, Austria; Hokkaido, Japan; Sheffield, UK; and Switzerland’s Dents du Midi region. The choice of Alaska gives the project both its highest stakes and its clearest narrative engine: the terrain is beautiful, remote and unforgiving, and success is never guaranteed.

The cast brings together some of freeride skiing’s most recognisable names: Paddy Graham, Kye Petersen, Markus Eder, Tom Ritsch and Finn Bilous. Eder’s presence is particularly notable given his history with large-scale, technically ambitious ski film projects; action cinematographer Christoph Thoresen, who won a Sports Emmy for his camera work on Eder’s The Ultimate Run, serves as the film’s action DOP for Alaska.

A creative team built for self-awareness

Director Adam Gendle brings a background in British snowboarding culture and a track record of comic, self-referential action-sports filmmaking, including the award-winning mockumentary #skigoodmoneywillcome with Legs of Steel in 2014 and 2022’s Here Hold My Kid. His approach gives We Can’t Not a tonal edge that distinguishes it from conventional powder-and-adrenaline productions.

“Whether you are an action sports athlete, a musician or a carpenter, the choice to do what you love is often not the safest path and here lies the jeopardy,” Gendle says. “At the end of the day, this is a human story about people doing what they love and showing the people they love…why.”

The film is written and directed by Gendle, created by Tobi Reindl and Paddy Graham, and edited by Aina Punsola, with Johno Verity as director of photography and Christoph Thoresen leading the Alaska action unit. Its soundtrack is performed by Cari Cari, with original music composed by Alexander Köck and Stephanie Widmer.

Release strategy and premiere tour

We Can’t Not will premiere in Innsbruck at the Metropol Kino on 23 October 2026, before a 15-date international tour that includes Whistler, Sheffield, London, Annecy, Ahrntal, Ambleside, Kelowna, Pamplona, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Chamonix, Villars and Munich. The UK dates are likely to attract particular attention: after Sheffield on 24 October, the film screens at London’s BFI Southbank on 27 October, followed by ski sessions at Tamworth Snowdome and Bearsden dry slope.

The global online release follows on 1 November 2026 at 18:00 CET, when the full film becomes available on Red Bull YouTube and Red Bull TV. Legs of Steel is also offering screening licences for independent premieres, extending the film’s reach beyond its official tour.

Why it matters for ski filmmaking

At a time when action-sports content is increasingly compressed into social clips and highlight reels, We Can’t Not makes a case for the long-form ski film as a vehicle for storytelling rather than spectacle alone. By foregrounding doubt, family, failure and the question of motivation, it aims to speak not only to core freeski audiences but to viewers who have never considered why someone would devote years—and take extraordinary risks—to make a ski movie.

For Legs of Steel, the project also reinforces its identity as an athlete-founded production company that combines elite-level action capture with an insider’s understanding of the people in front of the lens. For viewers, the promise is straightforward: not just another Alaska segment, but the story of what it takes to get there, survive it and decide to come back.

We Can’t Not is presented by Völkl and is a Legs of Steel and Red Bull Media House co-production.

https://legsofsteel.eu/wcn