Located on the border between Pakistan and China, K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth. For many climbers, it is an even greater prize than Everest, with limited routes, a steeper ascent, and a harder push to its summit. Nicknamed the 'Savage Mountain,' K2's peak juts unprotected into the atmosphere, regularly exposing climbers and porters to life-threatening weather conditions.

Despite being paid at rates far below those received by international expedition leaders, such porters – whether they provide critical supplies to expedition base camps or take on higher-altitude tasks in support of ascending climbers – do some of the most difficult and dangerous work and these efforts make them worthy of recognition as the true heroes of mountaineering.

In K2 AND THE INVISIBLE FOOTMEN, filmmaker Iara Lee and team chronicle the lives of both Pakistani porters and Nepalese sherpas. The film also follows the first official all-Pakistani climbing team, made up of former porters, who successfully summited in 2014, in celebration of K2 60th anniversary. Amid breathtaking scenery, the film depicts the everyday sacrifices of porters and the courage of those indigenous climbers who choose to return to scale K2 in spite of past tragedies. In their striving to perfect their craft, these mountaineers provide a fresh look into the cultures and national traditions of Pakistan, a country typically portrayed in the foreign media as merely a land of conflict and sectarian strife.

 

K2 & the Invisible Footmen 54’, Iara Lee (HImalaya) Κυριακή 23/10, 20.05

Curves tells the story of two generations of men who live to surf. Barry, an Australian immigrant, embodies the older generation, the pioneers of surf. He came to France with a group of Australians to devote themselves to their passion and never left. They spent their lives in search of the perfect wave. In a way they have changed the face of the village, they brought their culture with them, the culture of surfing. The second generation, the children of the first, follow in the footsteps of their fathers. Théo is the link between the generations. He’s Barry’s son and, like his father, travels the world in search of the perfect wave. The older generation no longer travels, but stories of their exploits feed the dreams of the young, who in their turn travel the world. The film revolves around their passion which is passed from one generation to the next.

 

Curves 52’, Antoine Besse (Surfing) Κυριακή 23/10, 15.15

Tom lives with his old father James in a camping in the Dolomites. They both live on his small pension. Even if his mother, the great British alpinist Alison Hargreaves, died descending the K2 when he was just 6 years old, he never wanted to be anything else than a climber. His whole life is dedicated to the mountains and his last goal is to climb solo the Six North Faces of the Alps in a single winter season.  Nobody ever did it, and he wants to be the first.  In a white van driven by James, Tom will travel through the Alps to make his dream come true.

 

TOM 55’, KOTTOMfilms (Alpinism-soloing the Great Six North Faces of the Alps)  Κυριακή 23/10, 15.30

 

The map reveals an exceptional place. Merelio is immerged in an adventure through an ancient path looking for a wave at the foot of a glacier without previous references. an odyssey of 120kms walk on a surreal Chile. This is the first expedition into the wilderness of Golfo de Penas.

Mares Del Sur 17', Ixa Liambias (Surf) Σάββατο 22/10, 17.30

Speedriding is an efficient mix of skiing and paragliding. Small and fast kites make you leave your traces on inclines hardly reachable just by ski, catapulting you through intrepid rides across breathtaking flights. Luca and Mattia, with little money but huge passion, have clear in mind what their goal is: freeing their kites for the first time over the highest European massive, the 4000m peaks around the alps in Aosta region, the same mountains that have surrounded and fascinated them since they were born. Riding 4000 is their story. The story about a trilogy of first world descents from Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa and Matterhorn. A story that talks about sport, speed, mountain and passion. Many stories that narrow down to one, the most important: friendship.

 

Riding 4.000 53', Michel Domaine (Speed flying) Σάββατο 22/10, 12.00

Skiing Noshaq is a tentative of skiing for the second time in history the highest peak of Afghanistan, Mt Noshaq (7492m). The first and only ascent by ski of Noshaq has been done for the first time in 1970 by an Austrian climber crew (Karl Gabl, Hans-Jörg Moser, ...). Hans-Jörg Moser, one of the climber, has realize a movie about the expedition. The quality and the interest of this story has driven us to realize a film mixing our expedition in 2015 and their expedition 45 years ago. We will explore the different aspects and changes of the two expeditions through archive pictures, interviews and 2015 expedition’s pictures. In April 2015, we drove to Afghanistan and tried the asent by ski in June.

 

Noshag 26’, Arnaud Cottet (Ski mountaineering) Σάββατο 22/10, 13.15

Autumn 2013, Gorges du Verdon, France:  The meeting of the Flying Frenchies stuntmen crew, the Compagnie 9.81 air dancers, musicians from the band Radio Monkey and the Baraka Flims team.  A skillful blend of artists and high-level athletes in a symphony devoted to risk,  a hymn to the void between visual performance and contemplative poetry.

 

Metronomic 15', Baraka Films (Highline stunts - music) Σάββατο 22/10, 17.50

When people think of Greece, few realize that the country has high mountains and a winter season, with skiing and snowboarding. Determined to change this perception, Greek-American filmmaker Constantine Papanicolaou sets out on an adventure to make a ski film that will show the magic of winter in Greece. Upon arriving, Constantine befriends a group of locals who become interested in helping him with the project. Soon, however, a difficult truth emerges. The economic crisis is taking a toll on the ski resorts in Greece. Fortunately, a movement has started, called Oreivatiko Ski, or ski mountaineering, where people forego the ski resorts to climb the mountain with their own power. Obstacles and challenges must be overcome, but ultimately the Greeks persevere, and Constantine discovers that winter in Greece is indeed magical.


Frozen Ambrosia 90',  Constantine Papanicolaou Σάββατο 22/10, 19.25

Lines we ride.

October 21, 1976. 10 Cyclists decide to go down the Repack trail in California. The first downhill race was about to take place and the sport's reputation, created from 10 loonies, ended up taking over the world.

 Very quickly the bikes began to change weight, volume, accessories, being formed and categorized as downhill bikes. Huge paths are built in the form of tracks, and athletes are gaining worldwide recognition. The downhill mania is going viral and has managed to spread all over the world!

A moment! In the whole world;

This is the story of a small country on the world map that follows its own pace in this evolution.

And although the conditions are not the most favorable, the Greek family with its own means manages to keep its people united.

Lines we Ride 38', Dimitra Babadima, Sunday 23/10, 16:45

"Eiger, sharing the myth; the past ..the present..the best

The north face of Eiger, at 1800m the highest in the Alps, still exerts an irresistible pull on mountaineers. Lorenz Frutiger and Louis Laurent revisit this mythical face in order to discover what makes it great, to embrace its verticality pitch by pitch, and to share the myth of the Eiger.

 

Face to Face Eiger, 20' - Bertrand Delapierre, Saturday 22/10, 12.35

The Road to Sparta, the first feature-length documentary from Barney Spender and Roddy Gibson, tracks four runners, including ‘UltraMarathon Man” Dean Karnazes as they take on the ultimate footrace: the Spartathlon.

 

Two years in the making, The Road to Sparta is a love letter to an extraordinary race and an equally remarkable band of human beings.

 

Taking place between Athens and Sparta, a distance of 246 kilometres (153 miles) in the searing heat of Greece, teacher Mark Woolley, project manager Rob Pinnington and Athens nurse Angela Terzi take on this gruelling challenge alongside Dean Karnazes. Finishing the race is no certainty for any of them.

 

The fifth runner in the story is Pheidippides, the man sent by the Greeks in 490 BC to ask the Spartans for military help against the Persians. It is that run that is celebrated and replicated every year with the Spartathlon.

 

His story is told through the verse of the acclaimed American poet AE Stallings and the vibrant specially-written score from Greek band Old House Playground.

 

The backdrop to The Road to Sparta is crisis and fear, today’s threat of austerity echoed by the threat of the Persians as they invaded Greek shores two and a half thousand years ago.

 

 

 

 

What they say:

 

"The Road to Sparta brilliantly captures the essence of a race that has no equal on the planet, with stirring intensity.”
Dean Karnazes, Runner and Author

“The Road to Sparta makes for highly entertaining and engaging viewing. The music sets the tone and the story lets you in. A beautifully told account of the human will to succeed against all odds."
Gillies Mackinnon, Film director (Hideous Kinky, A Simple Twist of Fate)

The Road to Sparta is due to be premiered at the Athens Action Film Festival on Sunday, October 23.

ENDS.

For further information or to interview the cast or production team, please contact Barney Spender 00 33 6 70299570 or email roadtosparta@yahoo.co.uk

The main theme of the soundtrack can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/oldhouseplayground/anastenaria/s-9sWIm

See more at:

Facebook/The Road to Sparta
Twitter/The Road to Sparta

 

Notes.

The Competitors:

Mark Woolley: a seasoned climber and runner with the scars to prove it who has already completed Spartathlon three times

Rob Pinnington: a man desperately searching for his first finish at Spartathlon after his previous two bids ended in failure.

Angela Terzi: an Athens nurse heading into the unknown of the Spartathlon for the first time.

Dean Karnazes: perhaps the most famous ultra-runner in the world, who is looking to run the race using the same diet as Pheidippidis used in 490 BC.

 

 

The Directors:

Barney Spender and Roddy Gibson met at university in Ireland and worked on numerous projects together in theatre and film. Their last collaboration, though, was back in 1987. Since then Barney moved into journalism, working around the world for various major news organisations, including five years in Greece. Roddy stayed in documentary film-making and is now an academic lecturing at Middlesex University.

 

Poetry:

AE Stallings is an American poet who lives and works in Athens. She has published numerous books of poetry and in 2011 won a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

Her poems are voiced by the leading Greek actors Renos Haralambidis and Malamatenia Gotsi.

 

Music:

When Barney first came up with the idea of doing the film, he already had Old House Playground in mind to write the music. They had been guests on his radio show in Athens. Not just one track but an entire score. Tryfon Lazos (guitar, bazouki, vocals) and Andreas Venetantes (drums, percussion) are Greek but live in Manchester where they teamed up with Englishman Jago Furnas (bass) to create a unique sound of Greek blues.

The music is produced by Clive Martin whose previous film experience included helping David Byrne win an Oscar for The Last Emperor.