The Epic of Everest

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

September 1927 •German

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

The Continuum Project

January 2010 •English

The Continuum Project follows some of the world's best climbing talent around the globe to document bold new routes and daring repeats on ice, rock, and in the alpine. The film focuses on these climbers' drive to explore, their passion for the mountains and the climbing lifestyles.

The Making of Everest

January 1998 •English

How was this IMPOSSIBLE movie actually filmed? Photographing the world's largest mountain in the world's largest film format demanded more than just strength and courage; it required dedication and purpose. During shooting, our filming schedule took an unexpected turn when eight climbers from other expeditions died in a sudden storm high on the mountain. Safe from the disaster, our film team helped launch a rescue. Re-live the events of those dramatic days which captured the world's attention, and hear about our team's heroic ascent of EVEREST to photograph the first large format film images from the top of the world. Summit day was heartfelt, especially for our climbing leader, Jamling Norgay, whose father is a Sherpa climbing legend. A devout Buddhist, Jamling deeply respects the mountain and its deities. The tragedy and triumph of Jamling's team reminds us of the importance and presence of spirit, not just on the mountain, but everywhere and always.

Between the lines

October 2018 •French

A steep ski season with Vivian Bruchez.

Crabs and Shrimp

December 1930 •French

Jean Painlevé is interested here, with the help of Eli Lotar, in crabs and shrimps. He is particularly interested in detailing their anatomy and observing their mating and fighting behavior.

Blindsight

September 2006 •English

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.

Silent Shakespeare

June 2000 •English

A BFI collection of 7 short films from the USA, England and Italy scored for Piano, Guitar and String Quartet.

No Need for Parking

June 2006 •English

The film, "No Need for Parking - An African Rock Adventure", tells the story of Mike Blyth, Marianne Schwankhart and James Pitman's epic 2006 flying and rock climbing trip around Southern Africa. This charming, anarchic film is simultaneously tension-filled, beautiful and inspirational. No-one can fail to be moved by the trials which the three adventurers face while negotiating the subcontinent's grandest and most dramatic scenery. The idea giving rise to the film is to draw on Mike's legendary flying skills to transport Marianne and James to three of Southern Africa's wildest and most remote rock walls, which they will then climb, while documenting the proceedings on camera. Events, however, seldom turn out exactly as expected. The resulting film, full of the warmth of Africa, is an object lesson in intrepid friendship and contemporary free-spiritedness, set to a kwela soundtrack.

Clean Mountains

January 2022 •Dutch

Insostenibile

September 2023 •Italian

Zabardast

October 2018 •French

An expedition film in the form of a multi-voice travel diary, where all emotions pass through the spectators who are immersed for three weeks with these riders and guides in the Karakoram massif in Pakistan.

The Old Breed

April 2012 •English

“Getting to the top matters,” or so says veteran alpinist Mark Richey as he prepares to climb Saser Kangri II, at 7,518 meters the world’s second highest unclimbed mountain. In “The Old Breed”, co- director and climber Freddie Wilkinson takes the audience with him on a journey to the heart of one of the last unexplored patches of mountain wilderness: the war-inflicted eastern Karakoram range. As Richey and Steve Swenson, both in their 50s, push the limits of physical health and will power to be the first to claim this final summit, a gripping psychological thriller unfolds.

Opening of the Kiel Canal

June 1895 •English

The opening of the Kiel Canal in Germany by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 20 June 1895.

Best of the West

December 2005 •English

2005. When a trip to New Zealand gets put off, Boone Speed, Chris Sharma, and Nate Gold have 2 weeks to kill and skin to burn. With stories of Hueco’s new age being not as restrictive as feared, they make a trip back for the first time in seven years. Sharma may be 40 pounds bigger, but the good news is, its all muscle. This rock climbing dvd stars Jason Kehl, Mike Beck, Tim Kemple, Anna Burgos, Bret Lowell, Steve Maisch and more

Vertical Frontier

November 2002 •Italian

History of rock climbing in Yosemite.

Around China with a Movie Camera

July 2016 •English

A new film compiled from the BFI National Archive's unparalleled holdings of early films of China, features films from 1900-48 filmed across China. The cinematic journey of Around China with a Movie Camera contains many films which may never have been seen in China, or at the very least not for over 70 years. These travelogues, newsreels and home movies were made by a diverse group of British and French filmmakers, some professionals, but mainly enthusiastic amateurs, including intrepid tourists, colonial-era expatriates and Christian missionaries.

How Animated Cartoons Are Made

September 1919 •English

Wallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.

Nanook of the North

June 1922 •English

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Best Coast Riot

March 2011 •English

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.

High and Hallowed: Everest 1963

September 2013 •English

High and Hallowed: Everest 1963 is the deepest story of the greatest Himalayan climb in American mountaineering history. Showcasing the daring and visionary efforts of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition, the film examines the sheer commitment, step-by-step struggle and lasting impact of America's first ascent of Mount Everest and the pioneering first ascent of West Ridge by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld. Five decades later, High and Hallowed returns to Everest to find out if the essence of risk, adventure and the unknown that drew the first Americans to the summit still exists on Everest today.