Planet in Focus: Everest Dark
Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights,. so please be sure to arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating and the screening will start after midnight.
Director: Jereme Watt Run Time: 90 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 2025
Starring: Jaswant Dev Shrestha, Pem Futi Sherpa, Nim Tsiri Sherpa, Nima Temba Sherpa, Mingma Tsiri Sherpa
Tourists line up at the foot of Mount Everest to climb the mythological mountain – and to tell everyone else about the feat. For the same reason, Mount Everest has become a graveyard full of the frozen corpses of fallen mountaineers. But the story of the world’s highest mountain also has another, overlooked side: the local one. For around the huge mountain between Nepal and Tibet lives a local population with their own worldview, which is very different from the one Western tourists arrive with. A world of mountain gods that demands respect for nature. To appease the angry mountain gods, the famous Nepalese mountaineer and national hero, Mingma Tsiri Sherpa, risks everything to return to Mount Everest one last time to retrieve a body and appease the sacred mountain.
Mount Everest is known for its heroic expedition tales dating back to the days of Sir Edmund Hillary, but in recent years it has developed a more treacherous reputation. An overlooked part of this story is the Nepalese guides who risk their lives daily to help climbers safely navigate their ascent.
Everest Dark tells the story of Mingma Tsiri Sherpa, revered as a national hero in Nepal for leading numerous rescue missions. After nearly retiring from climbing, Mingma undertakes a mission to recover a body from Everest’s slopes, so it can be returned home and restore balance to the mountain gods.
Directed by award-winning Canadian documentarian Jereme Watt and produced by Oscar-nominated Ina Finchman and veteran producer Merit Jensen Carr, the film’s stunning cinematography captures the grandeur and unforgiving terrain of Mingma’s trek. He and his team must navigate extreme weather, impossibly steep slopes, and deep ice crevasses in order to accomplish their impossibly dangerous mission. Everest Dark screens at PIF following screenings at CPH DOX, DC/DOX and Festival International du Film de Montreal. -PLANET IN FOCUS
Preceded by BETWEEN SALT AND SKY (Director: Felipe Rosa, Brazil/Chile // 16mins): In the heart of the Bolivian altiplano, where the infinite white of the Salar de Uyuni meets the deep blue of the sky, an epic battle unfolds. Ariel Flores, leader of the Rio Grande community, faces a monumental challenge: to preserve the millennial tradition of capturing and shearing wild vicuñas in a rapidly transforming world. Climate change threatens the delicate balance of this unique ecosystem, while the exploitation of lithium, the planet’s largest reserve, beckons with progress, but at what cost?
Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.