DUAL
A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT PASSION AND BEING ALIVE
juan Dual and Álvaro Sanz share much more than just a passion for the mountains. Their story begins a year after meeting, when Álvaro was deeply moved by Juan’s life: an elite athlete who runs ultramarathons… without a stomach, without a colon, without a rectum. A force of nature who had decided to turn illness into a driving force for life.
But it was a phone call that changed everything. Álvaro received a diagnosis that left him paralyzed: Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. The same disease that had shaped Juan’s life.
In that moment, he knew their paths hadn’t crossed by chance. There was a story they needed to tell together. A story of struggle, transformation, and hope.
NARRATIVE CONCEPT
In NOVEMBER, as the sun barely touches the horizon in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, Juan Dual —an ultra-endurance athlete without a stomach, colon, or rectum— takes on a five-day physical and spiritual challenge through one of the most dramatic landscapes on Earth. Alternating between cycling and trail running, he crosses snowy peaks, remote beaches, and endless fjords. But this is not just an endurance test — it’s a symbolic journey from darkness into light.
Filmed entirely during the blue hour —that suspended moment between night and day— the project captures not only the Arctic's crepuscular beauty, but also the most intimate dimension of a man who, on turning 40, has chosen to keep defying the limits of his body and time itself. Juan doesn't run to arrive — he runs to be. He doesn't follow the rhythm of the clock, but of the life he was given back.
Each day unfolds in a timeless flow, with no clear line between night and day. As if everything happened in a single breath. A poetic journey in search of meaning, beauty, and rebirth. A path towards one final sunrise: at Bunes Beach, where on the fifth day, Juan will watch the sun rise in solitude — a symbol of all he has overcome.
WHAT WILL WE SEE ON THE SCREEN
For five days, we will follow Juan Dual in an intimate, raw, and cinematic journey through Norway’s Lofoten Islands. Álvaro Sanz’s camera —always moving, always present— will never leave his side, capturing every pedal stroke, every breath, every moment of doubt or determination. There will be no schedule, no fixed stages: Juan will push forward when his body allows, and sleep under the open sky when exhaustion takes over. In a land where the sun barely rises, light itself becomes a character in the story.
Visually, everything unfolds during the blue hour. That magical boundary between night and day will allow us to capture a suspended atmosphere: landscapes washed in deep blues, purples, and silvery greys; fog rolling over the mountains; light reflecting on water; snow dusting the peaks. We want the viewer to lose all sense of time — to not know whether it’s dawn or dusk. To live in that same liminal state Juan experiences within himself.
We will see close-ups of his skin, his scars, his eyes. Smooth travelling shots, drone footage revealing the scale of the landscape and his solitude, and quiet, breathing static frames. The story will be woven together with voice-over: Juan’s inner thoughts, spoken as if whispered by the landscape itself. Along the way, there will be brief interviews, filmed in the moment, grounded in the reality of exhaustion and truth. Raw. Unfiltered.
All of this will be made possible thanks to a tool that doesn’t just record images — it interprets them: the Fujifilm GFX100 II. Its medium format sensor allows us to capture every nuance of light, every shadow, every texture with stunning richness and subtlety. Its incredible low-light performance will enable us to film in the darkest hours without losing depth or atmosphere. And its unique visual aesthetic — more cinematic and organic than any other camera in its class — will be essential to conveying the feeling that we’re not just watching a story: we’re witnessing something real.
This is not a traditional adventure documentary. It’s a sensorial, intimate, visually hypnotic experience. A poetic exploration of body and soul through light, wilderness, and the perfect camera to capture it all.
MORE ABOUT JUAN
Juan Dual is an ultra-runner and inspirational cyclist who has transformed a story of pain into a mission of resilience and self-overcoming. At the age of 13, he was diagnosed with familial adenomatous polyposis, a hereditary condition that carried a 99.8% chance of developing cancer in his digestive system.
Since then, doctors have progressively removed his colon, rectum, stomach, and gallbladder. He has undergone at least three high-risk surgeries, each of which brought him dangerously close to death.
But Juan didn’t just survive — he learned to live with a body that seems empty, and with a unique relationship to food: he needs to eat constantly in small portions, because he has lost the internal signals of hunger. He also discovered running, which became his lifeline.
What began as a casual act — taking care of a dog while living in Japan — became his salvation. He started running without any particular goal, simply as a way to recover. Gradually, he realized that when he ate, he regained strength. And that cycle became his way of staying alive — because his body no longer tells him when it's hungry, and he must feed himself constantly to survive.
Since then, his life has become an extraordinary example of endurance. He has cycled across South America (from Nicaragua to Ushuaia), competed in ultra trail races, gravel events like Kilómetro Cero in Spain, and has taken his message of hope to conferences, social media, and to the pages of his book “Vacío” (Empty) — a work built with dark humor, recipes, and personal stories that reflect how someone who is physically empty can feel, paradoxically, more alive than ever.
Now, at 40 years old, Juan lives in Valencia and is a powerful motivational voice with over a decade of experience in the running world. He gives talks, shares his daily life and encouragement on social media, and leads by example — a living reminder that:
If someone who is empty inside can do it, you can too.”
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Álvaro Sanz is a documentary filmmaker specializing in nature, resilience, and adventure. For over 20 years, he has travelled the world in search of real stories that move, connect, and transform. His visual approach is intimate, aesthetic, and deeply human.
He has directed projects such as “Horizonte Norte” and “La cumbre es el camino”, two films that explore the emotional and physical limits of human beings in extreme landscapes, as well as the TV series “Els herois de Vandellòs”, shot entirely on the Fujifilm GFX system, showcasing his mastery of storytelling in large format.
Following his collaboration with Fujifilm on “Prelude of Light”, Álvaro returns behind the camera to tell a story that can only be captured from within: close, poetic, and real. His documentary style combines the sensitivity of medium format with the precision of cinema, producing imagery rich in atmosphere and emotion.
For him, the camera doesn’t just capture light — it captures truth.
Behind the Scenes: capturing what can't be seen
In a project as intimate, extreme, and technically demanding as DUAL, the creative process is as valuable as the final result. That’s why a dedicated Behind The Scenes (BTS) crew member will be part of the expedition, tasked with documenting the story from the inside.
This BTS content will follow Álvaro Sanz at work in the field — shooting in low light, under rain or snow, in cold temperatures and over physically intense days — using the Fujifilm GFX100 II and its full range of optics. We’ll see the camera in action, the decisions behind each shot, the creative process, and the human rhythm behind the lens.
The BTS has a dual purpose:
To demonstrate the power and reliability of the GFX system in real-world conditions, handling long takes, rapid changes in environment, and the challenge of natural light in Arctic latitudes.
To humanize the creative process, revealing what lies behind each frame: the effort, the intuition, the preparation, and the emotion.
In addition to the video BTS, a full set of behind-the-scenes photographs will also be produced to visually complement the campaign — ideal for social media, editorial features, and PR activations.
This content will deliver clear strategic value for Fujifilm:
- Real-life use of the product under pressure
- Emotional and authentic brand storytelling
- Exclusive content for marketing and communication
