The Making of "Currents of Courage". Watch the Film Preview. — Idaho2Fly

A behind the scenes look of the making of the film, *Currents of Courage*. Will Bales (L) and David Nehmer (R)

By David Nehmer,
Idaho2Fly Retreat Guest and Volunteer, Executive Producer of Currents of Courage.

I'm one in a million—unfortunately, one of the more than 1,000,000 men diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. each year. Yet according to the NIH and related studies, only about 13% of men join support groups.

I'm still fighting cancer, but I'm one of the lucky ones. I discovered Idaho2Fly, a transformative men's cancer support group that offers free fly-fishing retreats and community in Idaho's wild spaces. Alongside my wife Cathy, my faith, friends, and family, Idaho2Fly helped me reset my life through the healing power of nature and brotherhood. Deeply grateful, I dusted off my photography equipment and volunteered to help Idaho2Fly tell their story.

My daughter, Christen Skinner—a talented professional editor—suggested I team up with her cinematographer friends to create a film about Idaho2Fly's impact. That idea ignited Currents of Courage, a documentary my new production company began producing through grants and crowdfunding.

Then my daughter pointed the camera at me.

I’ve been on both sides of the camera my whole career. This is the first time the story has been mine. For 35 years I shaped brands and told stories — behind the idea, behind the strategy, behind the camera. I knew how to make someone care about something they hadn’t thought about before. The story was always someone else’s.

I won’t pretend it was easy to say yes. I’m a private person in the ways that men of my generation are private — the ways that, it turns out, aren’t actually good for us. But Christen asked, and I’d spent 35 years watching other people be brave on camera. It seemed like time.

Currents of Courage follows seven Idaho2Fly retreat guests— husbands, fathers, grandfathers — I’m one of them — and tells the story of what happens when men who’ve been carrying illness alone finally stand in a river together and tell the truth. It tells the stories of men with cancer discovering something they didn’t know they were looking for: each other. Men fighting cancer and casting lines not just for fish, but for hope, connection and brotherhood.

I’m the Executive Producer and Director of Photography, but I’m also, for the first time, the subject.

It’s the most honest work I’ve ever done.