Lost Mountain
52′ / France
Shot over the 40 days of Jean-Christophe LaFaille’s attempt on Makalu in pursuit of his dream of climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000m peaks - solo and without oxygen. Knowing the film ends in tragedy makes watching it a poignant and painful experience. The voice-over somewhat grates, at odds with the confident pieces to camera from the husband and wife team who’s separation, frustration and worry we witness – powerless to intervene. At one point about two thirds of the way through I was struck by the thought ‘this is futile, go home to your family’, the first time a mountain film has ever made me think this. I wish he had.