The Present is a short documentary, 18 minutes long, directed by Timothy Dhalleine who may be best known as an award-winning nature photographer. As far as I know, this is his first film. It is about, as it is described on youtube: "the story of Dimitri Poffé, a 34-year-old French traveler who left his native France to undertake a cycling trip from Mexico City to Ushuaia after he tested positive for Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is a rare, neurodegenerative, hereditary, and incurable disease."

In part, this trip was taken to raise awareness and funds for Huntington's disease research. I've seen a few documentaries that deal with specific diseases. Most of them fall into a similar pattern of informing the viewer of the disease by talking to doctors and patients about it. This is different. This is for the most part an account of an adventure as Poffé rides his bike through this long trip. Images are accompanied by place names and distance travelled. It is done to such a point that one could almost ignore the main thread of the film, Huntington's disease.

This disease was made an issue in the Australian TV series Neighbours, where one got almost, but not quite, the same amount of information about the disease. Okay, I know I'm not being fair here. Poffé talks about his diagnosis and his family history with the disease and meets other people that have got it. It is in these scenes where the disease really comes into view. It really is one of those diseases that are not well known and terrible for those that get it. The viewer gets to know early on that Poffé is coming to the age where he may start to get symptoms. He has seen both his father get it and die from it, and his sister getting it and over time how she has been getting worse. Some people might break down at the prospect, but instead Poffé goes on an adventure, which one really has to admire him for it. Still, for those that really want to get an in depth discussion of Huntington's disease this documentary may not be the best place to start.

Even so it is an excellent film about an adventure. Dhalleine is an award-winning nature photographer, and it shows in the shooting of the film. It is beautiful. The composition of the shots, the lighting, just the way it is put together is just beautiful. Maybe it is because of how beautiful it is and how unlike most other documentary films I've seen about specific diseases that I got distracted from the main issue of it. But at the end of it, I think it is a good film that does what it sets out to do. What I think this film does so well is that it gives the viewer the sense that life is an adventure, even though one might have a disease like Huntington's. Everyone has got one life, so one might as well try to enjoy it, and Poffé is a good advocate for that as well as for more knowledge of Huntington's.

You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk7Xh...

You can get to know more about Dimitri Poffé's journey and support Huntington's Disease research here: https://exploreforhuntington.com/