Roped Up
Frédéric Favre
Switzerland | 2017 | 106 min
World premiere
Language : French
Subtitle : English
The Patrouille des Glaciers, a military ski mountaineering race open to civilians, is the most severe mountain event that exists. Having taken part, himself three times, Frédéric Favre is aware of the difficulties and challenges of such an undertaking. After having filmed, camera in hand, bike messengers in Lausanne in his previous opus (Cyclique, VdR 2015), the filmmaker sets off again on an intense cinematographical exercise since he accompanies, literally, the training process of three teams on their way towards the fateful date. In addition to the sporting and mythical dimensions, other motifs quickly become clear: “[…] I aim to show what’s under the surface, what actually pushes people to do something as hard and dangerous as mountaineering in race mode. And why so many athletes speak of dependence and addiction when talking about ski mountaineering.” Pushing one’s physical limits to confront one’s anxieties; F. Favre retraces, with the momentum and empathy that marks out his work, an extraordinary human and sporting adventure.
Emilie Bujès
