Höhenflug

We followed Said Belhaj when he showed his good friend Dani Andrada around on the Swedish west coast for ten days. They climbed some of the old classic routes and also tried some of the projects the area has to offer. We tried our best to capture the spirit, surroundings and the atmosphere around their visit here.

In the early morning of a middle summer day of 2013 the ultra-athlete Nico Valsesia reached the summit of Mont Blanc (4810 metres). But Nico wasn’t an alpinist like the many others with him that morning. He conquered the highest summit of Europe after a no-stop riding almost 17h long, started the day before by bicycle from a beach in Genoa. The first Mont Blanc 24 hour record was beaten by Marino Giacometti in 1997 (23hrs) and subsequently by Andrea Daprai in 2008 (18 hrs 58’). From that day on, Nico launched the project “From Zero To…” and continued to add records and summits (Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro). ”Summit” tells all the efforts that Nico and his team have made for making possible this epic challenge.

Capturing the greatest stories and sends from the year in climbing, the four new films of REEL ROCK 15 deliver a joyful dose of inspiration, heart and humor. Witness an unimaginable triumph of determination, an epic journey of self-discovery, a magical adventure across the world and a bond-building expedition that forever changes lives.

In 1950, a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog went to central Nepal to conquer the highest peak (8,091 meters): Annapurna. The film is not only made of what we see, but even more of what we don't see. Its imperfections are the negative imprint of the adventure. Memory is the most faithful of films.

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the story of their meeting, their friendship emerging amidst hardship, and then dissolving after their journey.

In October 2010, two of France's top mountaineers, Christophe Dumarest and Yann Borgnet, fulfilled a mountaineer's dream: a six-day alpine-style ascent of Walter Bonatti's great routes through the Mont Blanc massif. Dumarest and Borgnet first climbed the north face of the Grandes Jorasses; they then climbed the Grand Capucin and the Pilier Rouge du Brouillard, completing their feat with the ascent of Mont Blanc. Their paragliding descent in Chamonix completes their feat with a touch of fun. The climbers and the director made the ethical choice not to use helicopters to shoot the film.

Three new films featuring the biggest climbing and adventure stories of the year: ADN - SEB BOUIN: 29-year-old French sport climber Seb Bouin quietly climbed the elite ranks, culminating in his attempt to establish a long slope in a cave overhang in the Gorges du Verdon in France / CLIMBING RESISTANCE: In the hills torn by the Palestinian conflict, young Palestinians embrace rock climbing as a necessary respite from the oppression of the occupation Israeli. American writer and climber Andrew Bisharat visits the West Bank to explore his own roots and the power of climbing to transcend existence / BURNING THR FLAME: Big wall free climbing masters Babsi and Jacopo seek their most Biggest challenge so far: a free ascent of "Eternal Flame", a 3,000 foot route on the legendary Nameless Tower in Pakistan's Karakoram Range.

Every year, over a thousand climbers try to reach the summit of Mount Everest, with the annual record for successful attempts currently standing at 633. But of that number, nearly half were Sherpas - the mountain's unsung heroes. Yet the Sherpa community has remained secretive about their nation, culture and experiences living in the shadow of the world's highest mountain. Now, for the first time, they open the door into their world. Without the expertise of the Sherpas, only the hardiest and most skilful climbers would succeed. Every day they risk their lives for the safety of others, yet they seek neither glory nor reward, preferring to stay in the background. Following the stories of four such Sherpas - Phurba, Ngima, Ngima Tenji and Gelu - this film reveals the reality of their daily lives, not just up the mountain, but with their families after they return home.

Presenter Hannah Fry reveals how much our planet can change in just a single day and how these daily changes are essential to our existence.

King Lines follows Chris Sharma on his search for the planet's greatest climbs. From South American fantasy boulders to the sweeping limestone walls of Europe, Sharma finds and climbs the hardest, most spectacular routes. Off the coast of Mallorca he discovers his most outrageous project yet, a 70 foot arch rising from the Mediterranean Sea...