A Sherpa family breaks a taboo and climbs the most holy of mountains to earn money for their son’s education. They accompany a western expedition on East Wall of the Khumbakarna Mountain, a wall that has never been climbed before. ‘The Wall of Shadows’ tells the story of an encounter between a young Sherpa boy and an experienced western mountaineer at the foot of the sacred mountain. Will they face the wrath of mountain Gods?
A documentary of the first successful expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. New Zealand's Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest in 1953.
Pseudo-ethnological documents about two villages which, without roads and electricity, "stopped existing"
Guido Magnone's incredible adventure begins strangely on the banks of the Ourcq canal among a group of kids who dream of swimming. Guido, the solitary son of "rital", dives to get noticed, succeeds, takes a liking to it, breaks his first record, collects medals. At the same time, he draws, attends the Beaux-Arts, is accepted with open arms and befriends the sculptors César and Féraud. At the end of the war, during a health stay in Chamonix, it is love at first sight for the mountains, climbing. Guido's ascent is now dizzying. He stormed the west face of the Drus, then the Fitzroy and the Tour de Mustagh, summits reputed to be impossible. He rubs shoulders with the greatest, Lionel Terray, Maurice Herzog, and participates in the Makalu expedition, camera in hand, or those of Jannu and Chacraraju. Later, in his fifties, Guido hangs up the carabiners and participates in the foundation of the UCPA
In the summer of 1932, Gabriele Boccalatte and Ninì Pietrasanta met. They met on the Monte Bianco, they climbed it together and fell in love. Their great alpine years go exactly from 1932 to 1936 – the year in which they got married. They, as a roped party, pioneered some of the toughest alpine routes. They used to keep journals and take pictures in order to keep a record of their achievements. Ninì, that was one of the very few female climbers of those years, would carry a 16mm film camera with her, during her climbs. In 1937, their son Lorenzo was born, and, in 1938, Gabriele died, falling from a mountain wall. Ninì, then, gave up extreme climbing and focused on her role as a mother. Some years after Ninì’s death, in 2000, her son Lorenzo found the reels his mother had been shooting, hidden in an old case.
Agostino Gazzera, "Gustin", was a worker at a Fiat factory in the fifties. Son of an Italian proletariat who was left battered by World War II but full of hope for the future. A young Gustin, dreams to walk the roads of legendary mountain climbers such as Cassin, Boccalatte and Gervasutti.
Gaston Rébuffat is part of the history of mountaineering. Marseillais prodigy, high mountain guide of the Chamonix guide company and famous for the ascent of the most famous north faces: some are 1st rehearsals, others 1st French or 1st as a guide. Filmed by Georges Tairraz, this masterpiece released in 1955 reveals the beauty of effort and the pleasure of sharing in the mountains. Apart from the feat, the mountains are not there to satisfy egocentric ambitions. A classic !
“There’s a fine line between being bold and being a dumbass. And I think Brad did some time on both sides of the line.” Such are the words filmmaker and climber Cedar Wright uses to describe the subject of his new film. Meet Brad Gobright, 27 years old, busboy at a fine dining establishment, dirtbag, college dropout. Gobright’s diet consists of sprinkled donuts, scraps from work, glazed croissants, apple pie, and any and all junk food. And one other thing: Gobright is one of the best and boldest free solo climbers in the sport — who nobody has ever heard of. Safety Third shines the spotlight on Gobright, probably for a shorter moment than he deserves. But it doesn’t matter. His mind is elsewhere, focused on his next free solo.
Complete Time-Lapse of Gobright and Reynolds' Speed Record on the Nose. A time-lapse of the entirety of Gobright and Reynolds' blazing fast sprint up the most famous piece of rock in the world.
In this retrospective tribute, acclaimed filmmaker Jean Walkinshaw hails the 100th anniversary of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington by talking to those who know it best: the scientists, naturalists, mountain climbers and artists whose lives have been touched by the peak's far-reaching shadow. The result is a harmonious blend of archival material and high-definition footage celebrating an icon of the Pacific Northwest.
Kluane National Park is situated in the Yukon area of northern Canada and is a research paradise for glaciologists, geologists and other scientists. Mountaineers come to scale the impressive heights. Animals are free to roam, protected by stringent legislation. This film reveals many facets of this beautiful park, which has been declared a protected zone by UNESCO.
“Getting to the top matters,” or so says veteran alpinist Mark Richey as he prepares to climb Saser Kangri II, at 7,518 meters the world’s second highest unclimbed mountain. In “The Old Breed”, co- director and climber Freddie Wilkinson takes the audience with him on a journey to the heart of one of the last unexplored patches of mountain wilderness: the war-inflicted eastern Karakoram range. As Richey and Steve Swenson, both in their 50s, push the limits of physical health and will power to be the first to claim this final summit, a gripping psychological thriller unfolds.