Dans la voie, Portrait d'un guide au travail

Gary Hemming, le beatnik des cimes

The American mountaineer Gary Hemming marked the era of the 1960s. The story of this "exceptional" character is intimately linked to that of the rescue of the two German mountaineers on the west face of the Drus, in 1966, a rescue which he had took the initiative. While the official emergency services of the EHM try to reach them from above, a pirate rope made up of Gary Hemming, René Desmaison, Lothar Mauch, Gil Bodin, Mike Brurke, François Guillot, the filmmaker Gérard Bauer organizes to join them from below and succeeded after a fierce struggle the rescue. The press seizes the event and elevates Gary Hemming to the rank of national hero. All the newspapers feature this big guy with a cool attitude, mismatched clothes, jovial smile and long blond hair on the front page. From then on, he was nicknamed: "the beatnik of the peaks".

The Descent

After a personal tragedy, Sarah joins her friends on a caving expedition in the Appalachian Mountains. But when a rockfall traps them deep underground, their adventure turns into a nightmare. As they search for a way out, the group discovers they are not alone—lurking in the darkness are savage, cave-dwelling creatures. With rising tension and dwindling trust, the women must fight to survive against both the predators and each other.

The Cave

After a group of biologists discovers a huge network of unexplored caves in Romania and, believing it to be an undisturbed eco-system that has produced a new species, they hire the best American team of underwater cave explorers in the world. While exploring deeper into the underwater caves, a rockslide blocks their exit, and they soon discover a larger carnivorous creature has added them to its food chain.

Eric Escoffier, la Fureur de Vivre

First in Line

A screen adaptation of the well-known novel by Roger Frison-Roche about the harsh lives of mountain guides and their families in the French Alps, near Chamonix and the French/Swiss/Italian borders... Like his father, Zian Servettaz is a dedicated mountain man. His Italian-born wife Bianca does not adjust well to his mountain village in France, and to the ever life-threatening dangers presented by his mountain guiding and climbing. She briefly returns to Italy and to her family. However, after Zian's insistence and trip to Italy, she returns to mountain life in the French Alps. Once back there, events will unfold, changing their lives as well as those of other mountain people forever.

The Mountain

Selfish Chris Teller pressures his older brother, a retired climber, to accompany him on a treacherous Alpine climb to loot the bodies of plane crash victims.

The Rescue: 54 Hours Under the Ground

After a freak accident, experienced caver George Linnane was left with multiple life-threatening injuries within Britain’s deepest cave system. This drama documentary set in the Brecon Beacons tells the story of his remarkable 54-hour-long rescue. With George’s life hanging in the balance, a team of over 300 individuals came to the rescue, from Wales and across the UK, to try and save his life and bring him safely to the surface.

Caveman: The Hidden Giant

It has been almost thirty years since Filippo Dobrilla started to sculpt a giant male nude inside a cave 650 metres deep in the Apuan Alps. This almost inaccessible place has jealously protected his secret: his youthful passion for a fellow climber, a passion Filippo was only able to indulge in here in the intimacy of this cave. Even after it was over and ever since then, Filippo has been returning regularly to the cave to work on the most important sculpture of his life, a masterpiece no one will see.

The Underground Eiger

A marvelous portrayal of a key event in British caving, and of the adventurous spirit of the two cavers famous for their numerous cave diving breakthroughs and records. Documenting a world record-breaking cave dive of 6,000 ft (1,800 m) made by Geoff Yeadon and Oliver Statham from West Kingsdale Master Cave, in North Yorkshire, England to Keld Head.

Paragot-Bérardini, La Cordée des Voyous

Paragot and Bérardini: two climbers who fill all climbing enthusiasts with admiration. In Fontainebleau, Saussois, the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas, and all over the world, they have left their names attached to the most difficult routes and the most prestigious peaks. Here, they recount only the climbs they completed together: famous expeditions to Aconcagua and Huascarán, firsts in the Alps and the Dolomites. An unwavering friendship, comical and tragic adventures—this is what they share with us in the warm atmosphere of their memories. "La Cordée des Voyous" will be included in Jean Afanassieff's film "La Grande Cordée," which deals with post-war proletarian mountaineering.

A Crack in the Mountain

Deep in the jungle of Central Vietnam, lies a magnificent underground kingdom. Hang Son Doong which translates as “mountain river cave”, is the largest cave passage in the world and a place of spectacular beauty. With more people having climbed Everest than visited Son Doong, its pristine charm has remained undisturbed for millions of years. In 2014, Son Doong’s future was thrown into doubt when plans were announced to build a cable car into the cave. With many arguing that this would destroy its delicate eco-system and the local community divided over the benefits this development would bring, the film follows those caught up in the unfolding events. Beautifully shot and scored, “A Crack In The Mountain” is a powerful exposé about how both good and bad intentions can ultimately lead to one of the world’s greatest natural wonders being trampled for money. As well as inspire those who care about our natural heritage to fight to protect it.

Guido Magnone - The Artist

Guido Magnone designs cardboard boxes by hand for his parents' small business. A painter friend loves his brushwork and pushes him to attend the Beaux Arts. He takes an external competition, wins it, befriends the sculptors César and Féraud, surrealists, a handful of bohemians. He then discovered the mountain and quickly became one of the best climbers of his generation. He made prestigious conquests such as the west face of the Drus in the Alps, the first ascents of Fitz Roy in Patagonia with Lionel Terray or Makalu in the Himalayas... Magnone also participated in the creation of the UCPA and will be president of the Groupe de Haute Montagne from 1961 to 1965. From 1977, Guido returned to his first passion: sculpture, to devote himself fully to it around 1990. He began to exhibit again in 1996. In 2002, he exhibited his sculptures in Paris , Bourg-la-Reine, Aosta then in Etroubles in 2009.

Pierre Mazeaud, La Vie En Face(s)

Pierre Mazeau has managed to unite three of his passions which seem to have nothing in common, at a very high level: mountaineering, jurisprudence and policy. The Everest mountaineer, rescued from the Freney Pillar, the passionate jurist, the former sports minister, privy counsellor, and president of the French Constitutional Court is a charismatic personality. This sensitive film portrait follows a line, which Pierre Mazeaud himself has quoted: “Alpinism belongs to those who provide themselves with means to reach their goals, to those who are fully committed to a goal, to those, who know the value of solidarity of men, and to those who are aware that true human existence can only be fulfilled by proceeding with a team of roped-partners.”

Perilous Assignment

"Perilous Assignment" is an episode of ABC's Walt Disney Presents. Disney loved to show viewers behind the scenes of the daring shoots of its theatrically released or TV shows. The theme of the episode is the making of his next film, The Third Man on the Mountain, an adaptation of James Ramsey Ullman's novel Banner in the Sky, based on the true story of the first ascent of the Matterhorn. Walt Disney will not be limited to a simple promotional making-of. He offers to meet exceptional people, including the French mountain guide Gaston Rébuffat. The latter will show climbing techniques and then reveal breathtaking images of his ascents of steep cliffs with a client for the ascent of Mont-Blanc, filmed for the occasion. In 1958, Walt Disney will therefore offer him to be deputy director on the high mountain scenes of the film "The Third Man on the Mountain".

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.

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.

Ancient Caves

Ancient Caves brings science and adventure together as it follows paleoclimatologist Dr. Gina Moseley on a mission to unlock the secrets of the Earth’s climate in the most unlikely of places: caves. Moseley and her team of cave explorers travel the world exploring vast underground worlds in search of stalagmite samples – geologic “fingerprints” – that reveal clues about the planet’s climate history. Their quest leads them to some of the world’s most remote caves, both above and below the water, in France, Iceland, the Bahamas, the U.S. and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Together, they go where very few humans will ever go, revealing the incredible lengths scientists will go to study the unknown.

Maurice Baquet, The Accorded

At once a high-level musician, member of the October Group, entertainer, theater artist, film actor, mountaineer, and skier, Maurice Baquet, always on the move, structured his life around two common threads: the cello and the mountains. He once defined himself as a "cellist-skier," "all alone" in this category, which prompted James Couttet, world ski champion, to say: "Of all the skiers I know, he's the best cellist." Echoing this, Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur, André Navarra, added: "Of all the cellists I know, he's the best skier." Throughout his varied yet coherent career, Baquet helped to project a joyful and artistic image of the mountains. Who better to talk about Maurice and all his adventures than his alter-ego: Cérébos, the faithful cello that never left his side? From Paris to Chamonix, from the stage to the granite slabs and snowy slopes, this film follows Cérébos, crossing the century and above all... smiling!

Les 4 Faces de l'Aiguille Verte

An adventure of extreme skiing in the Mont Blanc area