The Battle for Donner Pass

TGV, la réussite française

June 2017 •French

The Second Game

February 2014 •Romanian

A deceptively simple set-up: the director and his father watch a 1988 football match which the father refereed, their commentary accompanying the original television images in real time. A Bucharest derby between the country’s leading teams, Dinamo and Steaua, taking place in heavy snow, one year before the revolution that toppled Ceaușescu.

509 Films: Volume 15

November 2020 •English

509 is back for another year of snowmobile action! How does adrenaline push our riders to send it year after year? What keeps them searching for the next big jump or breathtaking view? We travel across the West, Midwest and Sweden to capture the best in the world in their natural element.

509 Films: Volume 6

November 2011 •English

509 Films presents their sixth installment of their award winning backcountry snowmobile film series. Co-produced by Tom Delanoy and Phil Yribar, vol. 6 is a film two years in the making. Tagged "We Are Snowmobilers", the film takes you on an epic ride, showcasing the world's best snowmobile athletes and how THEY are snowmobilers. Featuring top riders such as Chris Burandt, Dan Adams, Brett Turcotte, Keith Curtis, Ross Martin, and many more. Volume 6 is a well rounded snowmobile film covering all aspects of riding from deep powder, big air, insane hillclimbs, to snocross race action. Sit back, strap in, and enjoy an exhilarating ride.

Terres noires

January 1961 •French

Pseudo-ethnological documents about two villages which, without roads and electricity, "stopped existing".

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.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

June 1896 •French

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

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.

Rainier the Mountain

January 1999 •English

In this retrospective tribute, acclaimed filmmaker Jean Walkinshaw hails the 100th anniversary of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington by talking to those who know it best: the scientists, naturalists, mountain climbers and artists whose lives have been touched by the peak's far-reaching shadow. The result is a harmonious blend of archival material and high-definition footage celebrating an icon of the Pacific Northwest.

Athos

June 2016 •German

The Athos peninsula in Greece is one of Europe's last secrets. Over 2000 monks live on Athos - cut off from the outside world. Access is denied to women, tourists are not welcome. Only workers and pilgrims can obtain a visa. The "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain" attracts people who feel like they are missing something from their modern lives. With the help of three Athos monks, "Athos - A Taste of Heaven" tells the story of the island and its inhabitants in a unique filmed diary style. The film's guiding theme is the path we as people have to find and follow - each and everyone for themselves. "First we must heal our own souls, only then we can help others", is one of Father Galaktions core messages. He lives as a hermit on the holy mountain. Not all monks, however, live as secluded and demure as Father Galaktion. The film team is also received by Father Epiphanios - a gifted and poetic cook who certainly does not disdain the pleasures of life.

Stars at Noon

January 1959 •French

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Stelvio: Crossroads of Peace

April 2014 •Italian

Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey

May 2017 •English

Fred Beckey is the legendary American "Dirtbag" mountaineer whose name is spoken in hushed tones around campfires. This rebel climber's pioneering ascents and lifestyle form an iconic legacy that continues to inspire generations.

Draw

August 2006 •English

The Alps - Climb of Your Life

March 2007 •English

In 1966, John Harlin II died while attempting Europe's most difficult climb, the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. 40 years later, his son John Harlin III, an expert mountaineer and the editor of the American Alpine Journal, returns to attempt the same climb.

Reinhold Messner - Il quindicesimo 8000

April 2013 •Italian

RER B

June 2017 •French

Alice Diop's enchanting short film, a work of transcendent transformation, shows how the rough lines of Drancy station are immortalized in watercolor by the French artist Benoît Peyrucq. A tribute to a location fraught with historical and contemporary poignancy.

National Geographic sull'Everest

January 2013 •Italian

Faces Places

June 2017 •French

Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.

Lines

February 2007 •English

The documentary follows a crew of snowboarders for six weeks in the Chugach mountains, and showcases what it takes to ride these unique Alaskan mountains: the waiting, the stress, the dangers, everything that goes into it and is usually never shown. It also retraces some of the history of this unknown discipline and pays tribute to the pioneers. But the film really focuses on the human aspect and why these people do what they do.