The Secret of the Secret(2000)

Stelvio: Crossroads of Peace(it)

Athos(de)

The Athos peninsula in Greece is one of Europe's last secrets. Over 2000 monks live on Athos - cut off from the outside world. Access is denied to women, tourists are not welcome. Only workers and pilgrims can obtain a visa. The "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain" attracts people who feel like they are missing something from their modern lives. With the help of three Athos monks, "Athos - A Taste of Heaven" tells the story of the island and its inhabitants in a unique filmed diary style. The film's guiding theme is the path we as people have to find and follow - each and everyone for themselves. "First we must heal our own souls, only then we can help others", is one of Father Galaktions core messages. He lives as a hermit on the holy mountain. Not all monks, however, live as secluded and demure as Father Galaktion. The film team is also received by Father Epiphanios - a gifted and poetic cook who certainly does not disdain the pleasures of life.

Stars at Noon(fr)

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Charade(en)

After Regina Lampert falls for the dashing Peter Joshua on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband's World War II cronies, Tex, Scobie and Gideon, who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole while behind enemy lines.

Ten Little Indians(en)

Ten strangers are invited as weekend guests to a remote mountain mansion. When the host doesn't show up, the guests start dying, one by one, in uniquely macabre Agatha Christie-style. It is based on Christie's best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the most-printed books of all time.

Special Flight(fr)

Switzerland still carries out special flights, where passengers, dressed in diapers and helmets, are chained to their seats for 40 hours at worst. They are accompanied by police officers and immigration officials. The passengers are flown to their native countries, where they haven't set foot in in up to twenty years, and where their lives might be in danger. Children, wives and work are left behind in Switzerland. Near Geneva, in Frambois prison, live 25 illegal immigrants waiting for deportation. They are offered an opportunity to say goodbye to their families and return to their native countries on a regular flight, escorted by plain-clothes police officers. If they refuse this offer, the special flight is arranged fast and unexpectedly. The stories behind the locked cells are truly heartbreaking.

The Call Of The Peaks(fr)

L'Appel Des Cimes, directed by Alain Pol, is a documentary commissioned by the CAF and the various French ministries on the practice of post-war mountaineering. In 1946, climbers trained at the Fontainebleau Climbing School. Guy Poulet and Jacques Poincenot try to climb the Aiguilles de Chamonix but fail during the climbing phase. After a night in a refuge with Denise Rouzeau and the guide Pierre Allain, the mountaineers make a new attempt. Successful demonstration for those who continued the approach walk then the passage of the seracs of the glacier. On the rock, the roped party crosses a chimney and a crack to reach the summit and abseil down. Led by high mountain scouts, Guy and Jacques rediscover the glaciers and needles of the Mont-Blanc massif during the next lesson.

Making An Ancient Forest - Kalkalpen National Park(de)

This film, three years in the making, The remote forests of Kalkalpen National Park in Austria, the largest area of wilderness in the European Alps, have been left untouched by humans for nearly a quarter of a century in order to return to their natural, primeval state. The landscape regenerates itself in dramatic cycles of growth and decay, and this bold hands-off method of conservation yields salient results: the lynx, absent from the area for 115 years, has returned.

509 Films: Volume 15(en)

509 is back for another year of snowmobile action! How does adrenaline push our riders to send it year after year? What keeps them searching for the next big jump or breathtaking view? We travel across the West, Midwest and Sweden to capture the best in the world in their natural element.

509 Films: Volume 6(en)

509 Films presents their sixth installment of their award winning backcountry snowmobile film series. Co-produced by Tom Delanoy and Phil Yribar, vol. 6 is a film two years in the making. Tagged "We Are Snowmobilers", the film takes you on an epic ride, showcasing the world's best snowmobile athletes and how THEY are snowmobilers. Featuring top riders such as Chris Burandt, Dan Adams, Brett Turcotte, Keith Curtis, Ross Martin, and many more. Volume 6 is a well rounded snowmobile film covering all aspects of riding from deep powder, big air, insane hillclimbs, to snocross race action. Sit back, strap in, and enjoy an exhilarating ride.

Rue de Blamage(de)

The Baselstrasse is a street in Lucerne. People call it "Rue de Blamage" – it's a noisy street tucked into a narrow space between a hill and a train track. The people who live here don't usually mingle with the rich and famous, but even the roughest haunt can be a home to those who live and work there – and Baselstrasse's two kilometers of asphalt are no different.

Blindsight(en)

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.

Auf Messers Schneide - Eine Geschichte der Chirurgie(de)

The documentary tells the exciting story of the beginnings of surgery through to its specialization - a fascinating journey through time from the Stone Age with the first skull openings through antiquity and the early modern era to the first heart operation. The film was shot at the most important locations in the history of surgery - including Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary and the USA. The film contains fascinating and partly unpublished archive material.

Walter Mittelholzer - Eine Schweizer Pioniergeschichte(de)

Le Regard Tairraz(fr)

For a century and a half, mountain images by their beauty have largely gained from its influence, its frequentation and its development. But they are also a tool in the service of science, fixing the transformation of landscapes, habitats... Over 150 years, the Tairraz dynasty photographed the mountain. Four generations of photographers have magnified the Mont-Blanc massif. From the first photograph taken at the summit of Mont-Blanc in 1861 to the present day, this art is at the origin of many mountaineering vocations and has largely contributed to the tourist development of these formerly ignored valleys. Here is the wonderful story of a dynasty of photographers, the Tairraz, which stretches from 1861 to the dawn of the 2000s.

In Between(sq)

In rural Kosovo, identical houses are built for family members working abroad, in the hope that they will one day return to settle in their old homeland.

Stelvio(en)

Standing proudly amongst the pantheon of cycling’s most revered mountains, the Stelvio boasts some of the longest and most challenging climbs in bike racing. Relentless switchbacks over impossible gradients beneath extremes of weather. It is on the relentless, technical, and often treacherous slopes of the Stelvio where the most famous and revered battles have decided the fate of the Giro d’Italia’s coveted Maglia Rosa. Jon Shubert explores the history and legends of the Stelvio and the surrounding regions, meeting people whose lives have been shaped by the mountain, and ex-professional Adam Hansen joins him as he makes his own attempt to conquer the coveted mountain.

Secret Agent(en)

After three British agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.

The Moebius Flip(en)

A science fiction fantasy on skis with spectacular glacier skiing, extraordinary acrobatics, unique optical effects, and an original score. The world's polarity is mysteriously reversed, requiring the skiers to regain the realm of normal perception by performing maneuvers inspired by the ambiguous nature of the "Moebius Strip."

Terres noires(fr)

Pseudo-ethnological documents about two villages which, without roads and electricity, "stopped existing"