Fruition is a film about Nicolas Müller, who has been following his dreams and his convictions since he was about twelve years old. From a very young age, he has wanted to be a snowboarder and for him, the big question has always been: ‘how can I preserve what I love and at the same time get on in my calling?’ Even then, he was representing today’s generation.
What does my body need, how do I nourish myself, where is my life leading to, what is the point of snowboarding? How has snowboarding changed over all these years? What are my obligations to my sponsors and what influence do I have on products and on the way that they are made? It is a film delivering a message to the world, which goes far beyond the subject of snowboarding. It is an open invitation to really think about how we spend our time and about other issues. In some of Nicolas‘s turns, I see the result of everything that has stimulated and influenced him.
In Fruition, a feel-good direction unfolds step-by-step. Modern society is still strongly oriented towards performance, people think in terms of results and how to attain them in the best and fastest way. But the journey is the final goal in itself! The trick is to be curious and open to what we encounter on our path. My own life also has a lot to do with encounters, with friends who encouraged and motivated me. I like Nicolas’s story so much because he has also often swum against the tide. Once he made it known that he wanted to become a snowboarder, those around him warned him, said that it was not a job! But Nicolas has worked it all out for himself, from deep within. He wanted to live in the mountains, to replenish himself with their energy day in day out, to give himself up to them. People looked at him askance and asked how he was going to provide for himself in his old age! In doing that, they were only transmitting their own fears to someone who had grabbed the reins of his own life. A free life, not dictated by society and education. Nicolas knew he could do it. With this willpower, he stuck to it and succeeded. Everyone who followed his career recognized what a wonderful ambassador he is for the sport and people like to listen to him. For the Japanese, he is one of the greatest, simply because of the way he does things, in his own style. I still do not know exactly what will become of our generation of today but I think they are here to mash everything up! They do not wait until something happens any longer; instead they grab the bull by the horns. They are very direct and say what they like and what they do not. They stand up for things, are open towards other people and have a very high level of acceptance. Nicolas has the nature of this generation which has its finger on the trigger. He was and is a precursor for everything that is happening.
When I was eleven, my parents split. I floundered unwillingly in the role of the oldest male in the household. There was a lot of fear as the authorities were constantly observing us. Ever since I was little, I have had plans and wishes. I have always instinctively sensed what could be in the pipeline and tried to live it out. In 1988, when I was thirteen, I spent every free moment skateboarding, listened to punk and rap music, cut and dyed my hair. I had set up a personal crusade to do just what I genuinely felt right. In an environment without a father and a role model, with an exceptionally loving, creative and respectful mother, who underwent a lot of pressure and was subject to the judgement of society, I was well brought up. I was friendly and decent but still someone who yearned to be different, to look at things from another angle and to break away from society. I believe many people of my generation carry in themselves wounds which are still in a healing stage.
I started my job at Beach-Mountain when I was eighteen. It opened doors to me. The shop was very innovative, always launching new trends. It was a boon for someone like me, who constantly could put myself into whatever pleased me. I came up with ideas, traveled as a trend scout in the States, released a magazine, organized contests, worked on designs and the look of the shop, always focusing on customers and on our relationship with them.
When I decided to express my fantasy through filming, this was also a bold step and a rough process for me. I needed to discover what I really stood for and what made me happy. Through this, my sensitivity became more and more obvious as a strength. It was accepted as such and my projects required precisely this quality from me. Today, I put a lot of heart into people and companies and my work gets appreciated.
Fruition is my dream project. Because you can recognize in each of Nicolas’ fibres that everything he accomplishes, he does it joyfully. He does not follow some cool trends but does rather what pleases him and takes pleasure in being different. And we are united by a common story since he bought his first skateboard from me and from then on, we not only went skating together but also became friends for life. Our production crew, which mainly consists of skateboarders, is full of people with talents and skills, whose first priority is a sense of community and friendship. Together with Sean Fee, who moved from San Francisco to Switzerland four years ago, we have directed and edited the visuals of the film. Our main motivation with Fruition is to show people they can do many things if they set their conscious minds wholeheartedly towards achieving their goals, step by step. It should be a film which invites people to follow head-on their own intuitions.
Nicolas displays that very well. In this, he reminds me a lot of Tim Brauch, the first professional skateboarder, with whom I spent a lot of time. He said one day to me: “Martin, sign up to every discipline existing, regardless of what comes out of it“. Street, bowl, miniramp, vert, if there had been a slalom going, I would have signed up for that as well. He was simply there in order to promote skateboarding, to show how cool and straightforward it was. Just do it, without fear, without any performance pressure. That was his job. And his way of doing it was so infectious. His joy of skating blew everyone away! Just like Nicolas does it: going head over heels into the snow, doing the one-footed switch-over all day long or practicing tombstoning, the main thing is to do what you feel like doing.
What amazes me about Nicolas’ ability as a snowboarder is his presence, which you feel in every aspect of his life, the respect he shows towards everyone, the fact that he lives simply and that his feet are still on the ground despite the great success he has achieved.
Fifteen years of Nicolas’ career have been brought here into one single piece. Unpublished works and new productions, in collaboration with a crew working together but from the most diverse areas of this world. I am grateful that my roots lie in skateboarding and snowboarding, that I always can discover snowboarding with fresh eyes and that I am part of this generation that paved the way in this direction, which can also be called ‘Fruition’ !
