The Last First: Winter K2
A breathtaking examination of hubris colliding full-force with the limits of human endurance as competing teams of adventurers aim to make history on the world’s most dangerous mountain.
At the turn of 2021, 13 of the world’s 14 highest mountains had been summitted in winter. The exception? The second-highest mountain on Earth, K2, a notoriously perilous western Himalayan peak towering 8600 metres above sea level. In the northern winter of late 2020, in the depths of the COVID pandemic and with violent snowstorms on the way, Icelandic alpinist John Snorri Sigurjónsson and Pakistani father and son Ali and Sajid Sadpara – all veteran mountaineers – prepare their bid to enter the record books; without warning, they’re joined at base camp by throngs of others vying to be the first, including Nepalese mountaineering rock star Nirmal Purja and commercial climbing tourists of varying experience. As ego, capitalism and the deep scars of colonialism clash with ethics, physics and the indifference of howling winds and infinitesimally icy temperatures, the stage is set for an epic and catastrophic competition.
Bringing together stunning big-screen visuals courtesy of influencer GoPros and professional film crews who accompanied the would-be summiteers, director Amir Bar-Lev (Long Strange Trip, MIFF 2017) masterfully layers a gripping, heartbreaking and nuanced picture of the moral and philosophical conundrums at the heart of extreme achievement.
“An exhilaratingly complex story, unfolding with journalistic precision … an epic documentary that isn’t afraid to focus on the hard questions.” – POV
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