A tragic expedition to the Himalayas, told by the great mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who lost his brother there in 1970, swept away by an avalanche during the descent. An epic tale set against a grandiose backdrop.
Social & External
The people behind it
Günther Götsch
Narrator (voice)
Reinhold Messner
Self
Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay made history as the first people to reach the top of Everest. Now, 50 years later, three sons of Everest's most celebrated climbers return to the mountain to challenge it again. Join their journey as they brave the elements and face death to climb 29,000 feet of wind-blasted rock and ice. And, relive the dramatic history of Everest from great triumphs to deadly tragedies, enduring rivalries and the unsung role of the Sherpa people—as National Geographic exposes the untold stories that lurk in the mountain's epic shadow and takes you on the ultimate Everest experience.
Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.
K2 Chasing Shadows chronicles Benjamin Védrines' record-breaking 2024 ascent of K2 (8,611m) in 10 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds, without supplemental oxygen: a story that unfolds as much in the mind as on the mountain. In human exploration, each boundary pushed awakens a new thirst. Each feat paves the way for a deeper quest. It is this tension between extreme performance and inner aspiration that drives K2 Chasing Shadows. For Benjamin Védrines, it is a journey of humility, resilience, and a search for meaning amidst the raw beauty of the Pakistani Karakoram. The film exposes the physical demands of a formidable summit, while also exploring fear, loss, and the perilous nature of dreams that demand total commitment. Between unforeseen obstacles, forced retreats and new attempts, Védrines faces the most trying and exhilarating aspects of mountaineering, constantly questioning where true accomplishment lies.
After 20 years away, Isabelle, a former climbing champion, returns to her village in the Alps for the funeral of her mountain-guide father. She decides to open up a new climbing route with the help of Kenza, her protégé - something she'd planned to do with her father. But the past and its secrets resurface through Antoine, a brilliant mountaineer who was Isabelle's first love.
While holidaying in the French Alps, a Swedish family deals with acts of cowardliness as an avalanche breaks out.
A Bollywood filmmaker and his crew gets stranded in a remote Himalayan village due to torrential downpours. How the intense experiences under siege, affect the filmmaker's thoughts and priorities forms the central theme of the film.
On April 29, 1983, three French alpinists reached the summit of Jannu, having climbed its 7,710 meters via the very steep southwest spur. The success of Luc Jourjon, Jean-Noël Roche, and Roger Fillon echoed that of the 1962 national expedition, which had been celebrated by Lionel Terray alongside the leading climbers of the time, Desmaison, Paragot, Magnone… But in 1983, the goal was no longer simply to wave a French flag on a virgin summit. The focus was already on a more "alpine" style, and there was even the idea of descending from the top… by air!
Directed by Marianne Chaud
Alex Txikon, internationally renowned mountaineer, is launching a new winter expedition in 2021 to Manaslu (Nepal). It is the first non-polluting ascent, powered by solar panels. With this sustainable system, which reduces the energy footprint in accordance with the Paris Agreements, the EKI Foundation is beginning its work of solidarity. Alex is going to learn about the work developed by the Foundation in Sierra Leone, where they provide solar energy systems that enable energy autonomy in schools and hospitals. Txikon proposes to replicate this idea in a very special school in the Diamer Valley in Pakistan, the Günter Mountain School, uniting two different but at the same time equal cultures.
The first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat was achieved in 2016 by Pakistani Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Spaniard Alex Txikón, accompanied by Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger. Alex Txikón made headlines again by attempting K2 in the winter of 2019, then Everest in the winter of 2020 (each time unsuccessfully); but also by participating in the search operations led by Tom Ballard and Daniele Nardi on Nanga Parbat in March 2019, even claiming to have spotted two figures on the face. Confined during the Himalayan season, the Basque climber took the opportunity to work on a film recounting his own adventure on Nanga Parbat four years earlier.
The highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayan range is far reaching, spanning thousands of miles, and holds within it an exceptionally diverse ecology. Coniferous and subtropical forests, wetlands, and montane grasslands are as much a part of this world as the inhospitable, frozen mountaintops that tower above. The word Himalaya is Sanskrit for abode of snow, fitting for a stretch of land that houses the world’s largest non polar ice masses. Extensive glacial networks feed Asia's major rivers including the Ganges, Indus, and Brahmaputra. More than a billion people rely on these glacier-fed water sources for drinking water and agriculture. The Himalayas are not only a remarkable expanse of natural beauty. They're also crucial for our survival.
The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
Avid for steep slopes, Marco Siffredi (1979-2002) obeys only one rule: not to fall. This gifted kid with hair sometimes blond peroxidized, green or blue clashed in his valley: Chamonix, mecca of mountaineering. His thing was to go up and down on a snowboard. . 90 minutes September 8, 2002, altitude 8848 meters, rare oxygen, his head already brushing the sky and his snowboard running, Marco Siffredi, 23, rushes from the summit of Everest in the Horbein corridor and its slopes at 50 degrees . A year earlier, he had already made the first descent of the mountain on a snowboard. But there remains another corridor… more direct. It's not a challenge, just a reason to be... However, that day, at the top of the roof of the world, his trace is lost...
British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash-land in the Himalayas, where they are rescued by the inhabitants of the hidden, idyllic valley of Shangri-La. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-La provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.
At the end of the 18th century, the wealthy French scholar Saussure comes to a small Alpine village and offers 1,000 pieces of gold to anyone who can lead him to the summit of Mont Blanc. The young farmer's son Jacques Balmat wants to take on the dangerous task, even though his father has told him from an early age about the mighty mountain spirits who guard a legendary treasure of gold on the mountain peak.
Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.
After years in Canada, Thomas, returning home, finds a rather frosty welcome. Bernhard has moved in with his girlfriend Maria and the children, and much else in the village is different. His brother Winnie manages the family farm and has a stable family, his rival Bernhard has a solid job, while 35-year-old professional athlete Thomas faces an uncertain future. As internal tensions grow, so does an external threat: After heavy snowfall, the village is to be evacuated due to the danger of avalanches...
An epic story of adventure, starring some of the most magnificent and courageous creatures alive, awaits you in EARTH. Disneynature brings you a remarkable story of three animal families on a journey across our planet – polar bears, elephants and humpback whales.
Lignes chronicles the sublime interplay between alpine literature and an expedition seeking the true meaning of mountaineering. Four high-mountain guides—Matthieu Maynadier, Pierre Labbre, Matthieu Détrie, and Julien Dusserre—embark on a project: to summit Nangpai-Gosum, an unclimbed 7,000-meter peak in Nepal, using the "alpine style" adapted to the Himalayas—the toughest and purest approach of all. Through this expedition, Lignes attempts to answer the question: "Why do we climb mountains?" Why, despite the harsh conditions and exhaustion, do these four Alpine guides pursue a perilous dream in a realm that belongs to no one? Lignes finds some answers in the past, drawing on 150 years of alpine literature. Serving as both narrator and seasoned guide, Raymond Renaud takes us on a tour of his books and speaks of the "conquerors of the useless"—from the turn of the century to the present day.
Meru is the electrifying story of three elite American climbers—Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk—bent on achieving the 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 Summit is a 2012 documentary film about the 2008 K2 disaster directed by Nick Ryan. It combines documentary footage with dramatized recreations of the events of the 2008 K2 disaster. On the way to and from the summit, eleven climbers died during a short time span creating one of the worst catastophes in climbing history. Much of the documentary footage was captured by Swedish mountaineer Fredrik Sträng. Sträng was planning to do a Documentary which was aborted due to the fact that he did not reach the summit. The footage was still valuable to help solving what really did happen since all the climbers had different stories about what happened.
Fearless alpine climbers Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold enter into a death-defying rivalry to set speed records on the Swiss Alps' great north faces.
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.
A drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters that Van Gogh sent to his younger brother Theo, and of those around him. What emerges is a complex portrait of a sophisticated, civilised and yet tormented man.
Drawn from a never before seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions.
Against the darkening backdrop of New Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protecting one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the black kite.
The life of Canadian mountain climber Marc-André Leclerc as he pushes the boundaries of climbing while on an expedition to Patagonia.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
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.
Reaching 29,029 feet, Mount Everest has long captivated mountaineers of all stripes. But a peak that draws athletes and mountaineers to new heights isn’t without danger — or a dark side. Perhaps the peak’s greatest mystery is the missing body of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine who disappeared alongside George Leigh Mallory in 1924 just 800 vertical feet from the summit. In Lost on Everest, we follow along as a team of elite climbers with new intel on the location of his missing body set out to solve what may be mountaineering’s great mystery. Along with the body, the team hopes to find Irvine’s camera and the footage that could rewrite history.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
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.
Follow Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rise to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been typically been handed down from father to son for centuries.
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.