K2: Siren of the Himalayas

Filmmakers Dave Ohlson and Andy McDonough, producer Jason Reid and subject Fabrizio Zangrilli in person!

Everest gets the lion’s share of media coverage, but alpinists know that K2—at 8,611 meters, the second-highest peak in the world—is more challenging. Perhaps those difficult conditions explain why there are so few documentaries about K2, but K2: Siren of the Himalayas tells the story of a 2009 ascent of the mountain by Fabrizio Zangrilli and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, a century after the Duke of Abruzzi’s famous expedition. Filmed in Pakistan, this often-gripping documentary shows how hard it is for even the world’s finest alpinists to climb this mountain, where for every four people who have reached summit, one has died trying.

Screening with:

Sea of Rock
Sebastian Doerk | Austria | 2012 | 12m
Four decades ago, a couple of young guys hauled a bicycle up Mont Simmerstein in a rugged pocket of the Austrian Alps and attempted to ride down. The mountain—known as the Sea of Rock for its jagged armor of boulders, stones and cliffs—destroyed the bike. Local mountain biker Harald Philipp has attempted the descent many times and failed—pits, technical sections and razor-sharp stones make it a nightmare. In Sea of Rock, Philipp recruits pro trails rider Thomas Ohler in the hope that, by combining their knowledge, they can successfully thread through the wicked terrain. The film follows the riders as they find lines through this imposing and beautiful landscape, chasing the long sought-after goal with two completely different styles.