Mountain Man
The mountain guide Jakob is a controversial figure. His supposed father dies and leaves behind a great heritage to the people. In the town they consider Jakob a bastard, because his parents were not married, which means that without a testament, the lands in which he lives do not belong to him. But the testament indicates that the inheritance corresponds him under a single condition, he must be the first person to climb the east face of Monte Verità. French version of Die weisse majestat, shot the year before in German with the same script in the Eiger/Jungfrau region but with different actors and by a different director.
Fourth Everest Expedition
Percy Wyn-Harris' filmic record of the 1933 expedition, led by Hugh Ruttledge. It features comprehensive footage of the 1933 Mount Everest Expedition. Opens on the team’s arrival in India and shows landmarks, then shots of the preparations in Darjeeling. Includes blessing ceremonies by the Buddhist Lama at Darjeeling and the Chief Lama at Rongbuk. Scenes of all six camps being established and the journey back to Darjeeling, when it became clear summiting would be impossible this time.
Switzerland Series
Distributed under the title of ‘Switzerland’ or ‘Playground of Europe’, the film consists of a collection of scenes filmed in the Alps by Frank Ormiston-Smith between 1903 and 1905. The scenes belong to concrete moments in different ascents and treks in the Alps and are presented together without the intention to narrate a concrete ascent. These are some of the scenes: Snow avalanche on the Shreckhorn, Difficult ascent of a Rock Peak, A close call - Dangerous climbing, Descent of steep snow drift, Crossing a dangerous snow bridge, Fusillade of rocks on the Alps, Descending a steep rock-faced mountain side, Capt. Spelterini's balloon trip across the Jungfrau, Surmounting the summit of the Finsteraar-joch.
Mountain King
When Hannah travels to Sweden to surprise her boyfriend and meet his parents, she begins to suspect that his family is hiding a monstrous secret.
Blood on the Promontory
Five convicts shackled together try to escape through the mountains after a violent train robbery.
The Mountain Guide of Zakopane
The peak of the sun is in the High Tatras. The mountain guide Carlo tried to climb it several times without success. When he finally gets it, he thinks that nobody else has to raise it and develops a special feeling with the mountain. When the Americans MacAllan, his daughter, and the engineer Harry West arrive at Zakopane with the project to build a cable car on the mountain, Carlo rejects it, because he considers the mountain of his property, a kind of sanctuary. Finally, he lives an experience that can make him change his mind. There is another version of the film titled Burza nad Zakopane, shot the same year in Polish.
The Giant of the Dolomites
Expert mountain-guide Maciste lives in the Dolomites. He dotes on his young nephew Hans, the illegitimate son of his sister, who died of a broken heart for the dishonour of being seduced and abandoned. Maciste’s bitter rival is the sinister Schultz, a smuggler in search of easy money who teams up with two adventurers: Müller and the mysterious Vanna Dardos. Schultz’s plan is to steal the design for a revolutionary aviation project that engineer Riccardo Ewert is finishing in the peace and quiet of his mountain chalet. Thanks to Maciste the plan is thwarted and Müller and Schultz die overwhelmed by an avalanche while escaping through the mountains.
Loney & Havender
To experience snow and learn German, the young Vietnamese woman Trúc Lâm moves to a little town in the Erz Mountains. During a guided tour of a mine, she leaves her group and reaches the other side of the mountain through a secondary shaft. The world there is similar to the one she left – only all the people are different. She meets Duc, who is also from Vietnam and whose parents have an Asian snack bar. And she meets a mysterious spirit who offers to make a deal with her to enable her return to her old world.
Storm Over Mont Blanc
Hannes is employed at the Mont Blanc Observatory; the only outside connection is a pilot and Hella over the radio. Hella ascends the mountain but her father dies along the way.
White Marathon
Documentary on one of the first editions of the Trofeo Mezzalama, the highest ski mountaineering race in Europe, at more than 4,200 meters above sea level, which takes place on the glaciers of Monte Rosa, from Breuil to Gressoney-La-Trinité, crossing the summits of Castor (4,199 meters) and Nez du Liskamm (4,100 meters). The film recounts the last hours of feverish preparation before the start, the teams preparing for the race linked in ropes, then follows the stages of the competition by following the groups of skiers from a plane. Created in 1933, the Trofeo Mezzalama was contested until 1938, before falling into oblivion during the war. A second version was organized from 1970 to 1973. A third biannual version has been organized since 1997.
Everest 1936 - Ruttledge
Record of the 1936 British Mount Everest Expedition led by Hugh Ruttledge. Although the North Col was reached, a combination of high winds, storms and waist-deep snow made progress above 7,000m difficult and, with the monsoon arriving early, Ruttledge called off the expedition. Members of the expedition were mountaineers Eric Shipton, Frank Smythe, Percy Wyn-Harris, Edwin Kempson, Dr. Charles Warren, Edmund Wigram, Peter Oliver and James Gavin. The party also included Tenzing Norgay. This was a very well-equipped expedition, which included oxygen and radio equipment.
Battle for the Mountain
Sound and shortened version of 'Im Kampf mit dem Berge', Arnold Fanck's second major mountaineering film, from 1921. The film follows two mountain enthusiasts, battling through a glacier area in the Swiss mountains. The mountaineers are two very prominent skiers at the time, Hannes Schneider and Ilse Rohde, who climb the Lyskamm. Arnold Fanck's film production company (Berg und Sportfilm GmbH) was acquired in 1925 by the UFA, whose cultural department reedited the film into a short and sound version in 1940 with the music of Giuseppe Becce.
Pyrenean Perspectives
Released in November of 1920. Produced by Burton Holmes.
Burza nad Zakopanem
The peak of the sun is in the High Tatras. The mountain guide Carlo tried to climb it several times without success. When he finally gets it, he thinks that nobody else has to raise it and develops a special feeling with the mountain. When the Americans MacAllan, his daughter, and the engineer Harry West arrive at Zakopane with the project to build a cable car on the mountain, Carlo rejects it, because he considers the mountain of his property, a kind of sanctuary. Finally, he lives an experience that can make him change his mind. There is another version of the film titled Der Bergführer von Zakopane, shot the same year in German.
Devil of the Matterhorn
English-language, dubbed sound and partly re-edited version of Der Kampf ums Matterhorn. During an early, unsuccessful attempt at climbing the Matterhorn, Edward Whymper finds himself rescued by an italian guide, Jean Antoine Carrel. The two men quickly build a friendship and agree to reach the peak together. However, local villagers plot to divide the alliance of Whymper and Carrel and both men join rival teams as they set out in a race to conquer the mountain. A mountaineering drama based on the novel by Carl Haensel and inspired in the dramatic true story of Edward Whymper, who led the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865.
Champions on the Snow
A documentary illustrating the mountain sports activities of the university students of the GUF (Gruppi universitari fascisti) in Val Gardena, Madonna di Campiglio and Roccaraso. The film starts with a rock climbing winter ascent to Sasso Lungo (Langkofel). A party of four men make an approach on skis and climb roped from the base of the mountain to the summit. Then the film shows images of different competitions: ski (cross country, slalom, ski jumping), skating (figure, speed) and biathlon. A propaganda film of the Italian fascist regime.
Dian Fossey: Ihr Leben für die Gorillas
She was the first to study gorillas in their natural environment: the high mountains of Rwanda, where she settled in 1967. For nearly twenty years, Dian Fossey lived with the gorillas, observed their behavior, and changed the way people viewed them. Her relentless fight against poaching prevented the species from becoming extinct. But in December 1985, the primatologist was murdered, and the mystery surrounding her death remains unsolved. Former colleagues, scientists, and biographers shed light on the impact of her work, but also on the darker sides of her personality and her uncompromising commitment.
Excelsior
Record of the international expedition to climb Kangchenjunga in 1930. The German-Austrian-British expedition, led by Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth, had come from the Nepalese side and tried to reach the North Ridge via its NW face after failing in the north face, where the sherpa Chettan was killed in an avalanche. The attempt failed but the team made the first ascents of Rathong (6678m) and Jongsong Peak (7483m), and also climbed the Southwest peak of Nepal Peak.
Songs of Earth
With Olin's 85-year-old father as guide, we experience Norway's most adventurous valley, Oldedalen in Nordfjord. He grew up here, and here generations before him have lived in balance with nature.
Wild Love
While on a romantic getaway, Alan and Beverly cause a fatal accident. This crime won't remain unpunished...