‘Everest: The Other Side’ — a film about Everest and loss — presented in Venice
National Geographic’s documentary film «Everest: The Other Side» was screened out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, the film tells the story of ski mountaineers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson, who planned to climb Everest’s North Face via a direct route and ski down from it.
The film was initially conceived as a story about the shared dream of two athletes. Only a few climbers have ascended Everest’s North Face, and no one had previously completed a ski descent along this route.
Tragedy during filming
While the film was being made, Nelson died in 2022 while skiing down Manaslu in Nepal. The moment was captured on camera. After that, the film focuses on Morrison as he experiences the loss of his partner and decides whether to continue their shared goal alone.
Morrison’s life had already been marked by tragedy: in 2011, his wife and two young children died in a plane crash. The mountaineer said that the mountains had helped him cope with repeated personal losses.
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Filming at high altitude
«Everest: The Other Side» was directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the Oscar-winning duo known for the climbing documentary «Free Solo». Chin accompanied Morrison during the Everest expedition.
Vasarhelyi said the film includes footage from Everest’s remote North Face that audiences have not seen before. According to Chin, expedition members and camera operators worked at an altitude of nearly 9,000 meters, so the film crew consisted of experienced athletes and climbers capable of filming in such conditions.
The directors also noted the role of Sherpas in the expedition. According to them, a new generation of Sherpas is increasingly seeking to pursue its own mountaineering goals rather than merely support Western teams. The Venice Film Festival will run until September 12.
