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The people behind it
Arnaud Petit
Self
Stéphanie Bodet
This documentary follows the feats of high-altitude climber Jerzy Kukuczka and his ascent to higher heights before his death in 1989.
South Africa is home to some of the world’s best rock climbing and attracts thousands of climbers each year from across the globe. Many films have documented this emerging paradise, but ZA (Zuid-Africa) stands to become a cult classic among the climbing community. Stunning landscapes are perfectly captured through expert time-lapses and ground-breaking drone footage. World-class climbers such as Daniel Woods, Nalle Hukkataival, and Dave Graham take on V15 first ascents and terrifyingly majestic highballs. Nina Williams battles and overcomes the elusive grade of V13, while supporting climbers bring camaraderie and color to the overall vibe of the film. Candid conversations and lifestyle shots are interspersed throughout, allowing the audience to connect with the climbers and routines of the trip. ZA gives a glimpse into the world of these professional climbers, their friends, and the reason why they keep coming back to South Africa.
Makoto Fukamachi is a Japanese cameraman. He finds an old camera on a backstreet of Nepal. The camera might possibly solve the mystery of whether George Mallory became the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest on June 8, 1924 or not. Pursuing the old camera's past, Makoto Fukamachi meets legendary Alpinist Joji Habu. Joji Habu is isolated from other people because of his reckless and thoughtless personality.
"W for Walter," directed by Rossana Podestà and Paola Nessi, is the last gesture of love that Rossana, who passed away in December 2013, offered to Walter Bonatti, recounting with intense sweetness and simplicity the life of the great mountaineer and explorer. Walter Bonatti and Rossana Podestà met when both were at the end of their respective careers. She was a renowned international actress, he was a beloved explorer of distant lands, and, above all, the man who shaped the history of world mountaineering. Two extremely different lives that, as Rossana recounts in the film, slowly slid into each other, creating an unbreakable bond.
In this new 3-part series from acclaimed film-maker Andrea Cossu, we follow Jacopo as he travels from Europe, to America and the UK to gain a deeper understanding of trad-climbing as an art-form, it’s diverse community, culture, ethics and history - exploring what ‘hard-trad’ actually means and whether, when push comes to shove, the grades actually matter. Chapter 1 | USA Jacopo’s first stop is Yosemite, California. Jacopo has visited the valley on multiple occasions in the last decade, but usually with his focus on a big-wall objective. This time, he returns with his sights firmly focussed on experiencing the trad culture and history by sampling some of the area’s most iconic classic routes and attempting one of its hardest.
In an era where many climbers are using fixed ropes and sport-climbing tactics to free El Cap, climbers like Amity Warme and Brent Barghahn are choosing to keep adventure alive. Going ground up, Amity and Brent pull off a free ascent of the Pineapple Express variation of El Niño (5.13b/c) over eight days, battling variable conditions, friable rock, and, for Amity, a serious finger injury. This documentary captures the tenacity, grit, and performance mindset required to go ground up on a free ascent of El Capitan.
REEL ROCK cranks it up to 11 with our latest collection of electrifying climbing films showcasing the sport's biggest stories and athletes. Featuring Ashima Shiraishi, Will Stanhope, Matt Segal, Brette Harrington, Kai Lightner, Mike Libecki and the Wild Bunch.
The traditional healers in the Swiss and French mountains.
In this documentary first broadcast in 1993, Chris Bonington looks back at the first ever expeditions to conquer Mount Everest and the effect that the achievement of climbing the mountain had on climbing as a whole worldwide.
Documentary on John Hawkridge, who has suffered cerebral palsy since birth, and despite his immense difficulties with walking has a great passion for mountaineering. Chris Bonington narrates this film about John's attempt to climb 19,000 feet up Everest in the Himalaya.
In 1986 Steve Berry led an expedition to climb the highest unclimbed peak in the world. It also happens to be the highest peak in Bhutan. Two years of laborious preparations had led up to the attempt to get the climbers on the mountain in the limited weather window between the end of the monsoons and the onset of winter. Their team almost reached the summit but they were driven off by horrendous storms. Due to the climbing restrictions in Bhutan, the mountain remains today as the highest unclimbed peak.
A modern ascent of Mount Logan in the Northern Yukon of Alaska, retracing the steps of a 1925 expedition. American Jon Waterman leads Simon Wells, Joseph Runyan, Allen Jewhurst, John Dyer and Rick Atkinson to climb Prospectors Peak on Mount Logan. They mushed with dogs up the Chitina, Logan and Ogilvie Glaciers to 4100 meters on the King Trench route and then climbed Prospectors Peak. The program includes some black and white archive material.
Folows Sheffield climber, Paul Nunn as he attempts the north face of the Ogre (Baintha Brakk) in the Karakorum Himalayas on the borders of Pakistan, India and China. He outlines his preparations and mountaineers Chris Bonnington and Doug Scott reflect on the dangers they have encountered during their successful but dramatic attempt in 1977: on the first rappel from the summit, Scott broke both ankles. Later, Bonington broke two ribs and contracted pneumonia. Also, much of the week-long descent to base camp was in a major storm...
A British expedition's successful attempt to climb the Trango Tower in the Karakorum Range of the Himalaya's in 1976. The climber Martin Boysen relates the events of the team's first failed attempt to ascend the Tower in 1975. This is followed by footage filmed on the 1976 expedition and the climbers, Martin Boysen, Joe Brown, Mo Anthoine and Malcolm Howells, narrate their experience of the 1976 attempt. The team is seen arriving in the region, hiring porters and trekking over hazardous terrain to reach their base camp. The first attempt to climb the Tower on this occasion is thwarted by bad weather, but the climbers return a few days later to make a successful attempt on the summit.
"A small team of British Mountaineers set off overland heading for the 21,000ft Mount Barnaj in the Kishtwar region of the Indian Himalaya. Featuring the great Paul Nunn, along with Geoff Tier and Bob Toogood, this quintessential 1970's film is a rare glimpse into a world that has changed so dramatically on a political level, yet remains very much in the hearts of today's Asian and Himalayan travellers. Part adventure film, part travel documentary and unashamedly a commercial for the long lost British motor industry, the star of the film is clearly the British Leyland Sherpa van. The climb, like many Himalayan peaks, proves hard, and the team fight cold, altitude, snow blindness, constant snow storms and flattened camps on their summit attempts."
Film of the 1955 British expedition to Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, led by Charles Evans. The first ascent of Kangchenjunga was made on 25th May 1955 when Joe Brown and George Band stopped just short of the summit, a promise they had made to the Nepalese authorities in respect of local beliefs that it is a sacred place. Norman Hardie and Tony Streather summited the following day. At this time, Kangchenjunga was the world’s highest unclimbed peak.
In the Shadow of the Mountain is a documentary about alpinism that takes place in the Southern Alps. It was directed by Hugh Barnard in 2011. It features Hugh Barnard, Lydia Bradey, Dean Staples, Erik Monasterio, Paul Hersey, Aaron Nicholson and others.
Ama Dablam is a documentary about alpinism that takes place on Ama Dablam. It was directed by Roger C. Brown in 1979 and produced by ABC. It is a part of the series The American Sportsman. It features Tom Frost, Greg Lowe, Jeff Lowe, Tex Bossier, Martin Boysen, David Breashears and others.
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.
The definitive film on the climb that captured headlines and ignited imaginations worldwide. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson ascend the hardest big wall of all time: a 19 day ascent of The Dawn Wall, on the 3,000 foot vertical face of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park. The film travels deeper than the climb, digging into the history of the climbers and painting an intimate portrait of Caldwell's harrowing life experiences that culminated in a single-minded drive to complete this impossible climb. The Dawn Wall is a heart-warming and inspiring movie that celebrates perseverance, camaraderie, and the universal spirit of dreaming big, and never giving up.
The life of Canadian mountain climber Marc-André Leclerc as he pushes the boundaries of climbing while on an expedition to Patagonia.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
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.
With unprecedented access to the official archives and intimate recollections from the band, both current and past, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition invites fans to experience one of the most iconic journeys in music history. Spanning five decades, this electrifying documentary charts the band’s rise from the pubs of East London to the world’s biggest stadiums. Featuring exclusive interviews with band members and contributors such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Chuck D, as well as all-new animated sequences of the band's legendary mascot, Eddie, the film offers a rare and intimate look at Iron Maiden’s uncompromising vision and unwavering connection with their truly global army of fans.
James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici go on an adventure to find the lost city of Atlantis by using Greek philosopher Plato as a virtual treasure map.
This documentary starring climber Alex Honnold and famous biologist Bruce Means document their expedition to the South American sky islands in search of new species and discoveries. Follows elite climber Alex Honnold and a world-class climbing team led by National Geographic Explorer and climber Mark Synnott on a grueling mission deep in the Amazon jungle as they attempt a first-ascent climb up a 1000 foot sheer cliff.
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
A young penguin, driven by his instinct, embarks on his first major trip to an unknown destination.
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.
Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself, Proenneke traces how he came to this remote area, selected a homestead site and built his log cabin completely by himself. The documentary covers his first year in-country, showing his day-to-day activities and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living alone in the wilderness.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
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.
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Featuring new, previously unseen footage documenting the bizarre and unsettling things that happened to filmmakers David Farrier and Dylan Reeve as Tickled premiered at film festivals and theaters in 2016. Lawsuits, private investigators, disrupted screenings and surprise appearances are just part of what they encounter along the way. Amidst new threats, the duo begins to answer questions that remained once the credits rolled on Tickled, including whether the disturbing behavior they uncovered will ever come to an end.
The aim: to select the ideal mode of transport for each leg of a pilgrimage from Venice, Italy to Pau in France – home to a legendary street circuit and the origins of Grand Prix racing. On the way we prepare by taking to the track at Monza – the home of Italian Formula One. We try to get noticed on the road course in Monaco in a Bugatti, a Lamborghini and a Model T Ford. After cruising the canals in Venice we take to the tarmac and things look good - thanks to the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and Mercedes SLS Black. Throw in a Pagani Huayra, Porsche Cayman S and a GT3 as well as the Aston Martin Vanquish centenary edition, Bentley V8 convertible, Rolls Royce Phantom coupe and the face-bending BAC Mono all seems pretty perfect to us.
World War II. Not all warriors wore uniforms. Not all warriors were men. Meet ninety-year-old Colette Catherine who, as a young girl, fought the Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. Now she’s about to re-open old wounds, re-visting the terrors of that time. Some nightmares are too terrible to remember. But also, too dangerous to forget.
A first-ever look at the realities of the professional “amateur” porn world and the steady stream of 18-to-19-year old girls entering into it.
