Marc-André Leclerc, an exceptional climber, has made solo his religion and ice his homeland. When filmmaker Peter Mortimer begins his film, he places his camera at the base of a British Columbia cliff and waits patiently for the star climber to come down to answer his questions. Marc André, a little uncomfortable, prefers to return to the depths of the forest where he lives in a tent with his girlfriend Brette Harrington. In the heart of winter, Peter films vertiginous solos on fragile ice. He tries to make appointments with the climber who is never there and does not seem really concerned by this camera pointed at him "For me, it would not be a solo if there was someone else" . Marc-André is thus, the "pure light" of the mountaineers of his time, which marvel Barry Blanchard, Alex Honnold or Reinhold Messner, interviewed in the film. An event film for an extraordinary character.
For nearly three years, director Dina Khreino interviewed world-class mountain climbing athletes, listening to what compels them to leave behind families, friends, and everyday comforts to risk everything for a fleeting glimpse into the unknown. What she found was a tribe, a diverse group of professional adventurers and amateur philosophers forged by the ultimate test of body, mind, and spirit. In the face of shifting winds, sheer granite cliffs, and impossible odds, they climb. Each for their own reason, but every one connected by the vertical world. In this rarefied air, these athletes are fundamentally changed, not just as climbers, but as human beings.
“There’s a fine line between being bold and being a dumbass. And I think Brad did some time on both sides of the line.” Such are the words filmmaker and climber Cedar Wright uses to describe the subject of his new film. Meet Brad Gobright, 27 years old, busboy at a fine dining establishment, dirtbag, college dropout. Gobright’s diet consists of sprinkled donuts, scraps from work, glazed croissants, apple pie, and any and all junk food. And one other thing: Gobright is one of the best and boldest free solo climbers in the sport — who nobody has ever heard of. Safety Third shines the spotlight on Gobright, probably for a shorter moment than he deserves. But it doesn’t matter. His mind is elsewhere, focused on his next free solo.
Paul Robinson returns to Cape Town, South Africa to show his friends Carlo Traversi and Ashima Shiraishi the boulders he discovered on previous trips. Carlo repeats some of Paul's hardest lines from the last season and Ashima sets new standards for women's bouldering world wide. The crew also discovers and explores the vast, untapped potential for bouldering on the Cape of South Africa with numerous first ascents of all difficulties.
It's not a website. It's not an internet forum. It's not spray, beta, or slander. It's not a text message or a tick mark or a tick list or a film. It's all those things. This year, Red Bull and Chuck Fryberger Films have teamed up to bring you a glimpse inside an elite network of athletes who live their lives to train, compete, explore, and inspire by pushing their limits on the hardest climbing in the world. The best climbers in the world are all connected in a constant cycle of training, preparation, competition, and outdoor challenges. The Network connects both past and present - bouldering, sport, and competition climbing - and this cutting-edge film tangles the viewer inside the spider web of connections that makes up the world of the professional rock climber. Join 6-time world cup champion Killian Fischhuber as he and the best in the game explore areas old and new for adventures, lifestyle, and some of the hardest moves in the world.
Alex Honnold and Hazel Findlay head to Southern Africa for an experience of a lifetime. Africa Fusion takes us from the breathtaking orange granite and vast landscapes of Namibia, through the desert and across to lush red sandstone of Waterval Boven in South Africa. Carrying on the journey in South Africa we follow Alex and Hazel North to the wild and remote Blouberg (Blue Mountain) range. From the North we then journey far South to Cape Town, where Alex and Hazel explore a city crowned in mountains, from rock face to rock face. Their odyssey reveals surprising treasures and world-class climbing – while experiencing the joy of the journey along the way. Join them as they uncover these hidden gems in unforgettable settings.
First film in a series of three with Over-Ice and Oversand and one of the first films on free climbing shot in the cliffs of the Gorges du Verdon in several parishes. We meet a certain Patrick Edlinger, Patrick Bérhault, but also Jean-Marc Troussier, Jacques Perrier, Stéphane Troussier, Hugues Jaillet, Gilbert Thomann, Odette Schoënleb, Bernard Gorgeon, Christian Guyomar. Thanks to the program Les Carnets de l'aventure, then broadcast on Antenne 2, and its producer Pierre-François Degeorges, this film was made. The chain gave its production agreement during the day, while the climbing was very confidential, no one knew Patrick Edlinger and the project itself contained only a few lines on a sheet
Behind every breakthrough in the progression of climbing, there's a true story of doubt and determination, perseverance in the face of failure. From boulders, to big walls, to competition podiums, the climbers at the top of the game share a commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve their vision.
In a vertiginous sequence, Claude Lelouch's camera follows Patrick Edlinger climbing with his bare hands one of the routes of the spectacular Cimaï cliff. The action takes place in the Consensus voice (7c+/8a+) at the Cimaï quarry. In a place large enough where Claude Lelouch had been able to take out his crane to make a vertical trip. Later, in 2013, the foot of the Consensus route will experience landslides, the climbing sector has since been prohibited by municipal decree, huge blocks threatening to fall.
Discreet legend of Fontainebleau, Charles Albert, nicknamed Mowgli, continues to push the limits with his barefoot block creations. Climbing without slippers forces him to find original methods, to compensate with the strength of his arms and fingers. "Climbing is not just about a grade", he explains, "We have the possibility of doing what we want, climbing blindfolded, barefoot... All while seeking fluidity in our movements. The only limit to creating new challenges is your imagination.” He very rarely appears in the specialized media, has not made the Olympics or even major international competitions. Yet he is one of the best bouldering climbers in the world. For the record, in January 2019, he was the second in the world to offer a 9a rating for his long-standing project "No Kpotes Only". A year later, his boulder will be downgraded to 8c/+, still remaining one of the most extreme passages on the planet.
Rotpunkt documents the advent, the agony and the art of the redpoint through Alex Megos’s efforts to redefine the boundaries of the form. The film traces the redpoint—which transformed rock climbing from an engineering problem into a brilliant test of mental and physical strength—from its origins with a ragtag bunch of tights-wearing revolutionaries in rural Bavaria, to its golden era with Wolfgang Güllich, to its new ideal in the German phenom Megos as he battles to unlock new levels of human potential.
From America, England, France, Italy and Japan. From each corner of the earth, five climbers – Sam Elias, James Pearson, Caroline Ciavaldini, Jacopo Larcher and Yuji Hirayama – attempt to open a new multi-pitch route on the basalt island of Reunion. Lost in the South Indian Ocean, Reunion is the childhood home of Caroline and, after traveling the world for several years as a professional climber, returning was something she had to do. By working together as climbers and friends, the team is able to open, ground-up, one of the hardest multi-pitch rock climbs in the world.
