Through the Unknown

"Verso L'Ignoto" (Towards the Unknown) is an Italian documentary that follows mountaineer Daniele Nardi and his team in their attempt to achieve the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, an 8,000-meter peak in Pakistan, nicknamed the "killer mountain" due to its exceptional danger. For three years, the camera follows the preparation and several successive expeditions, showing the extreme cold, avalanches, fatigue, and the setbacks that constantly force the climbers to choose between continuing their quest for the summit or preserving their lives. More than just a story of sporting achievement, the documentary highlights doubt, defeat, and human fragility, showing that the "unknown" is not only the mountain, but also the element of risk, desire, and need for self-transcendence that each of us carries within.

Paragot By Paragot

Robert Paragot, a mountaineering legend, was also a great Bleausard. In addition to his far-flung alpine-style expeditions (the south face of Aconcagua, Tour de Mustagh, Jannu), he is the very image of the modest city dweller who devoted himself passionately to high-level mountaineering. Like any good Parisian climber, Robert Paragot began his climbing career in the Fontainebleau forest. A true rock school where he would open several boulders. His son, Christophe Paragot, paid tribute to him, a year after his death, by climbing all the boulders opened by his father in Fontainebleau in the same day. He tells us about an era, a spirit, an emblematic place through his memories and some delightful anecdotes. Far from spectacular images and sporting exploits, this film speaks of a passion, a story of climbing that was made accessible to all. In memory of a great name in mountaineering who, from the modest blocks of the forest, climbed to the highest peaks in the world.

The Dark Side of Everest

May 25, 1996 - Bruce Herrod, a South African mountaineer reached the summit of Everest at 5 p.m. On the radio, we urge him to come down as soon as possible because the descent is dangerous in the middle of the night. A few hours later, no news from him. From this South African expedition which turned into a fiasco and another expedition carried out in parallel, the testimonies of the members of these expeditions show to what extent the thirst for climbing to the top of certain mountaineers, combined with the lack of oxygen , can alter the lucidity of climbers to the point of changing their relationship to death and thus lead them to neglect other expedition members in order to ensure their victory or save their own life.

Solving for Z

Solving for Z explores IFMGA guide and father Zahan Billimoria’s relationship to the intoxicating highs and crushing blows of a life in the high-consequence environment of big mountain skiing.

Beyond Good and Evil

The Castaways Of Mont Blanc

This documentary is a reconstruction, based on archive footage, testimonies, and filmed reconstructions, of the Vincendon / Henry tragedy. December 1956: Jean Vincendon and François Henry, two young mountaineers, aspire to join the High Mountain Group. Lacking experience, they set out to climb Mont Blanc via the Brenva spur in the middle of winter. The weather conditions deteriorated, and they decided to give up before meeting Walter Bonatti and Sylvano Gheser. They then decided to continue the climb and set off in two different roped parties. Bonatti decided to take refuge at the Vallot refuge higher up, rather than descend. The two young mountaineers, overcome by the poor weather conditions and fatigue, remained stuck for several days at 4,000 meters. What followed was a completely disorganized rescue operation that became, for more than ten days, a spectacle for all of France and a national tragedy.

Ueli Steck – Auf schmalem Grat

Deceased but not forgotten. In 2017, Switzerland's most famous mountaineer, "Swiss Machine" Ueli Steck, fell to his death in the Himalayas when he was just 40 years old. Three close friends travel again to the Everest region where he died. His family in Emmental has to deal with premature death.

Crack Climbs and Land Mines, Alex Honnold in Angola

Alex Honnold is the most accomplished free climber in the world. Angola is a southwest African country that recently emerged from 27 years of bloody civil war. What brings together these strange bedfellows you ask? Some of the most epic unclimbed rocks in the world, and a community needing help to diffuse the hidden land mines leftover from the conflict. (Plus a shadowy local hotel magnate, but we'll get into that later). This is Alex Honnold in Angola, for one of the most unique adventures of his storied climbing career this far.

Stars and Storms

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 !

Jean des Bossons

Jean des Bossons is a documentary-fiction which recounts the activities of a high mountain guide in 1947. Around Chamonix Mont-Blanc, the guide Jean des Bossons, interpreter by the mountaineer Armand Charlet, accompanies on mountain hikes, Jean-Pierre, an apprentice guide. The novice, skis on the shoulder, is already clumsy. The professional taught him how to travel on skis uphill and downhill, then mountaineering in ice and rock parishes. By dint of training, Jean-Pierre has made it his job. Guides are also lifeguards. A group went to a glacier to rescue a man who had fallen into a crevasse. During this rescue, Jean des Bossons is the victim of an accident. A drama that prevents him from practicing the profession, but not climbing. The man sinks into the fog and Jean-Pierre cannot find him.

Algeria - Spirit of the Desert

In March 2002, the Italian climbers of the Ragni di Lecco group embarked on an expedition across the Algerian Sahara. Mario Conti, Simone Pedeferri, Marco Vago and Massimo Bosetti, during a long journey, completed numerous ascents: Ihaghen, Adaouda, Tizouyag Sud, Dôme de l'Éléphant (Tesnou mountain range) and around thirty new boulders, including La Gazelle (7b) and Le Guépard (7c). But the main objective was the opening of a new climbing route on the face of Garet El Djenoun, in the Tefedest mountain range. The 400-meter route, named "Mariolino Fotonico", has 13 pitches (8 new, plus 3 spans with "Mosquitoes" and 2 with a "Voie des Espagnoles" from 1985), with a maximum difficulty of 8a/A1. This film has a special significance, as it is the first film of the rebirth of the Ragni group, after the 90s marked by tragedy, and at the same time the end of the tragic black decade in Algeria which raged between 1992 and 2002.

Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest

Transcending cultural barriers and consistently going against the grain, female Nepali climber Pasang Lhamu Sherpa attempted to summit Everest four times in the early nineties. Although she was not allowed to attend school as a child, Pasang did not let that stop her from pursuing her dreams. After founding her own trekking company in Kathmandu, she blazed a trail for Nepali women via her efforts to summit Everest. Proving how big you can dream and how far you can go to achieve those dreams, she left a legacy not only for the family she has left behind, but for the myriad women following in her footsteps.

Best Of E.O.F.T. No. 8

The best films of the European Outdoor Film Tour 11/12.

Killerslope

Mountain climbers achieve fame, despite the many deadly accidents. The image is partly created by the climbers themselves. But because of the difficult circumstances at these great heights, it is practically impossible to find out if all these incredible stories are actually true. In April 2014, Dutch climbers start an expedition the sixth highest mountain in the world. Investigative journalist Geertjan Lassche closely follows the group. How ruthless do you need to be? And are these mountain climbers really as arrogant as they seem to be? The closer the group gets to the top, the more we learn about all kinds of universal dilemmas. And then, even the mountain itself turns against the climbers.

Farther Than the Eye Can See

Blind climber Erik Weihenmayer and his team's highly successful ascent of Mount Everest along with four other remarkable milestones on the mountain. Time magazine called this the most successful Everest expedition of all time.

Valley Uprising

In the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley, climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service. And up on the walls, generation after generation has pushed the limits of climbing, vying amongst each other for supremacy on Yosemite's cliffs. "Valley Uprising" is the riveting, unforgettable tale of this bold rock climbing tradition in Yosemite National Park: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity -- and the laws of the land.

Stars at Noon

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

L'Ascension Des Aiguilles Ravanel Et Mummery

"The ascent of the Aiguilles Ravanel and Mummery", climbed by young guides in cycling pants: The brothers Armand Charlet and Georges Charlet, Arthur Ravanel, Henri Couttet and Charles Balmat. The film was shot by Georges Tairraz II, Chamoniard mountain photographer, representative of the third generation of a family line of mountain photographers and filmmakers. George Tairraz II's film will lay the groundwork for a French vision of mountain film; In the 1930s, a French school of mountain cinema emerged, less expressionist, more stripped down and realistic than the German school. These are the films of Marcel Ichac, Roger Frison-Roche, Samivel, Georges Tairraz II, etc. It develops according to the principles set by Marcel Ichac, in opposition to the German school. It is both about getting out of the dramatic vision of the mountain and placing the mountain and the climbers at the heart of the plot.

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa

A Nepali mountaineer risks everything on a record-breaking Mount Everest climb to secure a brighter future for her daughters.

A l'Assaut Des Aiguilles Du Diable

Marcel Ichac accompanied the mountaineer Armand Charlet, in 1943, in the repetition of the first crossing of the Aiguilles du Diable that the guide of the Chamonix valley had made in 1925. A roped party joined on snow and ice the Col du Géant, reached at the Mont-Blanc-du-Tacul stop and on the Col du Diable. The men cross the needles by climbing chimneys, cracks and abseiling walls. They access the eastern slope of the Mont-Blanc massif which offers a panorama of the Grandes Jorasses and Mont-Blanc. Armand Charlet was the first to reach the summits of four needles above 4000 meters: the Devil's Horn, Pointe Chaubert, Pointe Médiane and Pointe Carmen; he also tells how he successfully climbed the furthest, the Isolated. Marcel Ichac shot these scenes as close as possible to his subject, he responded with this film with a “truth” cinema, the principle of which we find in his later productions.

14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible

In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.

The Alpinist

Marc-André Leclerc, an exceptional climber, has made solo his religion and ice his homeland. When filmmaker Peter Mortimer begins his film, he places his camera at the base of a British Columbia cliff and waits patiently for the star climber to come down to answer his questions. Marc André, a little uncomfortable, prefers to return to the depths of the forest where he lives in a tent with his girlfriend Brette Harrington. In the heart of winter, Peter films vertiginous solos on fragile ice. He tries to make appointments with the climber who is never there and does not seem really concerned by this camera pointed at him "For me, it would not be a solo if there was someone else" . Marc-André is thus, the "pure light" of the mountaineers of his time, which marvel Barry Blanchard, Alex Honnold or Reinhold Messner, interviewed in the film. An event film for an extraordinary character.

Everest

An international team of climbers ascends Mt. Everest in the spring of 1996. The film depicts their lengthy preparations for the climb, their trek to the summit, and their successful return to Base Camp. It also shows many of the challenges the group faced, including avalanches, lack of oxygen, treacherous ice walls, and a deadly blizzard.

Mountain

An epic cinematic and musical collaboration between SHERPA filmmaker Jennifer Peedom and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, that explores humankind's fascination with high places.

Free Solo

Follow Alex Honnold as he attempts to become the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite's 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall. With no ropes or safety gear, this would arguably be the greatest feat in rock climbing history.

Valley Uprising

In the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley, climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service. And up on the walls, generation after generation has pushed the limits of climbing, vying amongst each other for supremacy on Yosemite's cliffs. "Valley Uprising" is the riveting, unforgettable tale of this bold rock climbing tradition in Yosemite National Park: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity -- and the laws of the land.

Meru

Meru is the electrifying story of three elite American climbers—Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk—bent on achieving the impossible.

Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me

From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.

The Sound of 007

Pull back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music, from Sean Connery’s Dr No through to Daniel Craig’s final outing in No Time to Die.

That's Entertainment!

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

Beyond The Edge

A 3D feature film about Sir Edmund Hillary's monumental and historical ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953 - an event that stunned the world and defined a nation.

Faces Places

Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.

Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

The Last Waltz

Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and other rock legends.

One Day in September

The full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli revenge operation 'Wrath of God.' The 1972 Munich Olympics were interrupted by Palestinian terrorists taking Israeli athletes hostage. Besides footage taken at the time, we see interviews with the surviving terrorist, Jamal Al Gashey, and various officials detailing exactly how the police, lacking an anti-terrorist squad and turning down help from the Israelis, botched the operation.

Bambi: A Tale of Life in the Woods

The life of Bambi, a male roe deer, from his birth through childhood, the loss of his mother, the finding of a mate, the lessons he learns from his father, and the experience he gains about the dangers posed by human hunters in the forest.

The Great White Silence

Herbert Ponting travelled to Antarctica with Captain Scott’s ill-fated South Pole expedition and filmed the stunning images that make up this extraordinary documentary. (Originally released in 1912 as With Captain Scott in the Antarctic, the material was re-edited and re-issued by Ponting in 1924 as The Great White Silence.)

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

Our Planet: Behind the Scenes

Years spent recording footage of creatures from every corner of the globe is bound to produce a bit of drama. Here's a behind-the-scenes look.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.