Feature Film: MERU
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin
2015 USA / Duration: 87 mins
WINNER of MOUNTAINFILM’S 2015 CHARLIE FOWLER AWARD! Meru, a formidably jagged peak in India (also called the Shark’s Fin), has been tempting — and foiling — climbers for decades. In 2007, the climbing trio of Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk were turned back a few hundred feet from the summit, an effort chronicled in their previous film Samsara (Mountainfilm 2008). The three men decided to try it again in 2011, even after a series of mishaps, including a serious head injury to Ozturk and a scary avalanche slide for Chin. Given these issues, the decision to make a second attempt was controversial within the climbing community and inside the men’s families. Anker was healthy and motivated, but his wife, Jenni Lowe-Anker (the widow of the alpinist Alex Lowe who was climbing with Anker on Shishapangma in 1999 when he died), had understandable concerns. These back stories add texture, depth, vulnerability and conflict to a film that would be riveting even if it were focused solely on this presumably-impossible ascent.
Special Guest Q&A
CONRAD ANKER, co-star of Meru, With first ascents and routes on walls that span from Antarctica to Patagonia and Alaska to the Himalayas, author and North Face athlete Conrad Anker is a modern climbing legend. His long list of ascents includes the west face of Latok II in Pakistan’s Karakoram, the three towers of the Cerro Toree Massif in Patagonia and the “Streaked Wall” in Zion. Anker was part of the expedition that discovered the body of George Mallory on Mount Everest in 1999. In October of 2011, along with Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, Anker realized a long held dream when he topped out on the Shark’s Fin on Meru in the Himalaya. He lives in Montana, where he sits on the board of the Conservation Alliance, the Rowell Fund for Tibet and the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation. (Q&A session conducted via Skype on movie screen)
Accompanying Short Films:
Force – Directed by Aidan Haley & Fitz Cahall
Moonwalk (tribute to Dan Potter) – Directed by Mikey Schaefer
Closing Ceremony Event:
TIBETAN BELLS & HORNS performed by Karma Moffett
Sponsored by The North Face
Immediately following the screening of MERU, special guest musician Karma Moffett will close the festival with a mesmerizing performance on his legendary collection of over 40 Tibetan bells and horns, plus a traditional Tibetan prayer and closing blessing.
