Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 22: K2: SIREN OF THE HIMALAYAS
Dave Ohlson’s chronicle of an attempt to summit the second highest peak in the world had its premiere at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in 2012. Other fest screenings have included Mountainfilm in Telluride, as well as other mountain fests in New Zealand, Poland, Flagstaff, Slovakia, New York, and Mill Valley, among others.
Ohlson follows an expedition of the dangerous mountain in the Summer of 2009, which falls on the centenary of a legendary summit attempt by noted Italian mountaineer, Prince Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi. This gives the film reason to incorporate fascinating archival footage and stills from the 1909 trip, providing a glimpse into the sport at an earlier time, and a contrast with modern equipment and techniques, but the bulk of the film focuses on the contemporary attempt in a fairly straightforward adventure documentary style. Noting the extreme risks faced by alpinists – with a shocking 25% death rate – the film provides thrillseeking viewers with a safer, vicarious ridealong to one of the planet’s most remote and challenging spots.
what (not) to doc 