Dream Racer, the critically acclaimed film based on the Dakar Rally->ke2159, has won the “Best Feature Film” award at the New York 2015 Motorcycle Film Festival. It’s the latest in a series of accolades the film has received, following similar achievements in other film festivals. In addition to its latest triumph, Dream Racer also bagged the “Human Values & Sport Award” at the Barcelona International Sports Film Festival; the “Best Foreign Feature Documentary Award” at the Los Angeles All Sports Film Festival; and the “Mention D’Honneur” at the Milan International FICTS Festival.

We’ve featured the rally in these pages in the past and we can attest to how difficult it is to finish, let alone compete in. Participants actually have to endure 15 days and close to 6,300 miles of desert terrain just to be able to complete the race. It’s no wonder that over 50 percent of participants don’t even make it to the finish line. But this film isn’t so much about the Dakar Rally itself as it is about the journey of Christophe Barriere-Varju, a man who made it his personal goal to complete the race.

Like everyone else who enters it, Barriere-Varju’s quest didn’t come with its share of setbacks. But through it all, he persevered, overcoming fatigue, injuries, and tragedy to successfully say that the achieved his dream. It’s arguably one of the most inspirational films you’ll ever get to watch so if you need a little kick to get you dreaming once again, Dream Racer will give you that…and then some.

Continue reading to read more about Dream Racer.

Why it matters

Every once in a while, we chance upon a story that tugs at our core, leaving us in a state of examining our own lives. Dream Racer just did that for me. What makes this story different from a lot of other movies is the authenticity and realness behind it.

Christophe Barriere-Varju isn’t a celebrity in the traditional sense. He’s just like the rest of us, a regular man with a dream. But Barriere-Varju didn’t just settle on letting his dream get in the way of him actually living it. He set out and competed in the Dakar Rally with nothing more than drive, determination, and ambition guiding him throughout the entire race. It’s a fascinating story that we can all relate to in one form or another.

Yet for a lot of us, inspiration is fleeting. One second it’s there, then it’s gone. Dream Racer hopes to show the power of inspiration if it’s used in the proper setting. It can be used as fuel for someone’s dreams much like what it did for Barriere-Varju. I don’t know if everyone’s going to be inspired by the film as much as I have, but rest assured, it’s one that’s worth watching, if only for the sole purpose of understanding what this man had to go through to live out his dream.

It’s never handed to you; you have to earn it. Christophe Barriere-Varju earned it, and Dream Racer is the story on how he did just that.