Sprockets
1976 · 5m · Documentary
Sprocket holes moving across the screen.
More Like This

New Skyscrapers for Old
1931
Mountain climbing with all its thrills near Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. The film begins on a busy street in Toronto with cars and a Yonge Street streetcar contending with traffic, and pedestrians during rush hour. It then cuts to a mountain in the Rockies and Lake O'Hara and with four men with pack-sacks boarding train. They later climb past the Seven Sisters waterfalls. Coming to an alpine lake, they begin the ascent to the summit, using ropes and picks and traversing some tricky rock faces. Near the top they reach the 'Devil's Window' and, finally, the summit. The film was produced by the National Parks of Canada to promote tourism travel to the Canadian Rockies.
More info →Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada
1932
A film by Richard 'Dick' Leonard produced by the American Alpine Club about mountaineering in Sierra Nevada (California). Richard Manning Leonard was an American rock climber, environmentalist and attorney. He served as president of the Sierra Club and the Save the Redwoods League, and was active in the Wilderness Society and the American Alpine Club.
More info →
First Ascent of the Paganella Direct
1932
In September 1932, a party of climbers composed of Bruno Detassis, Gino Corrà and Nello Bianchini completed the first ascent of the Paganella direct route. After having reached the summit, the group is received with honors by the people who celebrate the feat. The movie also shows brief images of the inauguration of the 'Cesare Battisiti' refuge. The film, of great historical importance, was shot in 8mm by Aldo Pedrotti.
More info →Rock Climbing
1934
Klettern im Fels (in English, "Rock Climbing") is a German silent documentary about rock climbing. It was directed by the cameraman Hermann Schadock and produced by Defira-Film in 1934.
More info →
Climbing Cathedral Spires
1936
Ancient documentary that presents the ascent of Higher and Lower Cathedral Spires in Yosemite Valley by a party of three climbers from the Sierra Club (Jules Eichorn, Morgan Harris, Kenny Adams) two years after the first ascent. In 1934, Richard 'Dick' Leonard, Jules Eichorn and Bestor Robinson assembled the most advanced set of climbing gear then in use in North America, much of which they had obtained from Germany, and successfully climbed Higher and Lower Cathedral Spires. This was the first major technical ascent in the famous scenic valley that became a mecca of rock climbing.
More info →
Everest 1936 - Ruttledge
1936
Record of the 1936 British Mount Everest Expedition led by Hugh Ruttledge. Although the North Col was reached, a combination of high winds, storms and waist-deep snow made progress above 7,000m difficult and, with the monsoon arriving early, Ruttledge called off the expedition. Members of the expedition were mountaineers Eric Shipton, Frank Smythe, Percy Wyn-Harris, Edwin Kempson, Dr. Charles Warren, Edmund Wigram, Peter Oliver and James Gavin. The party also included Tenzing Norgay. This was a very well-equipped expedition, which included oxygen and radio equipment.
More info →
The Eiger North Face
1936
Die Eiger-Nordwand is a documentary about alpinism that takes place on the Eiger. It was directed by Max Herrmann in 1936. It features Fritz Steuri, Arnold Glatthard, Ludwig Gramminger and E. O. Stauffer.
More info →
Mountaineers in the Allgäu Alps
1937
A rock climbing in the Bavarian Allgäu Alps in Germany. The camera follows two mountaineers on a climb. We see all stages of the ascent, from the screes at the foot of the mountain up to the difficult ledges that require the use of pitons and belay ropes. The mountaineers ascend from Einödsbach to the Waltenberger Haus. After they have surmounted a chimney, the mountaineers eventually reach the summit. From there, they descend with ropes.
More info →With a Company on Piz Palü
1939
"A 'Full-day exercise in the Bernina area' by mountain soldiers under the command of Major Charles Golay. At two o'clock, 130 men broke up in Pontresina, and they were standing on the Piz Palu about an hour and a half later, and returned to Pontresina in daylight. With the spectacular action Golay introduced the superiors as well as the public the winter suitability of the mountain groups. Bartholome Schocher and Andreas Pedrett were the filmmakers and the young Egon Sommer the photographer."
More info →
Scrap
2017
A metallic cacophony resounds as Eric hunts for, and labours through, abandoned scrap. The sun beats down as his pick-up truck rumbles through the day.
More info →
With the Camera to Nanga Parbat
1938
Record of the 1937 German Expedition to Nanga Parbat, led by Karl Wien. This was the third German expedition to the mountain, and the team followed the same route than the 1932 and 1934 expeditions, led by Willy Merkl by the Rakhiot Face. During the ascent, progress was made, but more slowly than previous expeditions due to heavy snowfalls. Sometime between 14 and 16 June, Wien was camped with other six German climbers and nine Sherpas at Camp IV, below Rakhiot Peak, when it was overwhelmed by a massive avalanche. All sixteen men were killed in what remains as the worst single disaster ever to occur on an eight thousand meter peak. Uli Luft, Carl Troll and Dawa Thondup, who stood at the base camp, were the only survivors of the German and Sherpa teams respectively. The film shows images of the members of the rescue team, led by Paul Bauer, that arrived one month later.
More info →