On the south face of the Himalayas at 7400 metres high, a climber starts to feel unwell. His partner raises the alarm and one of the greatest rescue attempts in the history of the Himalayas begins.
COMPLETED
Filmmakers: Miguel Molina and Pablo Iraburu
Year: 2012
Runtime: 81 mins
Country: Spain
Format: HD
AWARDS
Serbitzu Award - San Sebastian Film Festival 2012
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
San Sebastian Film Festival 2012
Reflecting Images IDFA 2012
BCN Sports Film Festival, Barcelona, 2013
STORY
The south wall of Mount Annapurna in the Nepalese Himalayas is known among climbers as the most dangerous climb in the world. To reach the mountain’s summit at over 8,000 meters above sea level, mountaineers have to traverse a seven-kilometer-long ridge at 7,500 meters - an impossible task, especially for “pure” climbers who brave the thin air without oxygen tanks. So when experienced Spanish climber Iñaki Ochoa de Olza falls seriously ill while crossing the ridge in 2008, his hopes are slim. After his climbing partner Horia Colibasanu sounds the alarm, 12 fellow climbers from all over the world (Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States) mount a highly dangerous rescue operation.
This exciting and gorgeously photographed film travels the world to let these 12 rescuers tell their stories in their home environments. Archive footage and photographs combine in a reconstruction of the rescue attempt, and we also learn about their motivations for climbing. Why would they risk their lives to reach these mountaintops? Whatever the result of the rescue will be, these 12 heroes show us that the human spirit is alive and well.
FILMMAKERS
Miguel Molina has been Scriptwriter, Producer and Editor at Arena Comunicación Audiovisual since 2007. Among his earlier jobs, perhaps the most noteworthy was the post of Location Manager for the American full length production entitled “Americano”, which was filmed during the San Fermin festivities in Pamplona in the year 2003. He has furthermore participated in numerous film productions, not only Spanish, but also American, always in a senior capacity such as Editor, Cameraman, Scriptwriter, etc. He was the Scriptwriter and Editor of the short documentary, "La voz de Iñaki”, ("The Voice of Iñaki") a film financed by the Government of Navarre that premiered in 2008..
Since the foundation of Arena Comunicacion, Iraburu has shot documentaries for the United Nations, the Spanish Government and several of the main Spanish Non Governmental Organisations such as Manos Unidas, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, Forum Barcelona, Medicus Mundi , etc. He has directed documentaries shot in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, El Chad, the Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Malawi, Thailand and India. Iraburu's first full length documentary film was "Nomadak TX" (www.nomadaktx.com), also in co-production with Txalap.art, which was filmed in India, Lapland, the Sahara and Mongolia and directed by Raúl de la Fuente, (Photography Director in "Pura vida”).
In this particular film, Iraburu was Co-script writer, Co-director and Co- executive producer.
CREDITS
Director/ Executive Producer/ Scriptwriter: Pablo Iraburu
Director/ Scriptwriter: Migueltxo Molina
Executive Producer: Igor Otxoa
Production Manager: Marga Gutiérrez
Head of Production: Itziar García Zubiri
Photography Director/ Operator: Raúl de la Fuente
Music: Mikel Salas
Sound: Ernesto Santana