Screened as part of NZIFF 2009

North Face 2008

Nordwand

Directed by Philipp Stölzl

“A mountaineering adventure more tense, more edge-of-the-seat suspenseful, than Touching the Void? Almost incredibly, this German drama, based on a true story [the Eiger, 1936], is that film.” — The Independent

Austria / Germany / Switzerland In German with English subtitles
121 minutes 35mm / CinemaScope

Director

Producers

Danny Krausz
,
Boris Schönfelder
,
Rudolf Santschi
,
Benjamin Herrmann

Screenplay

Christoph Silber
,
Rupert Henning
,
Philipp Stölzl
,
Johannes Naber. Based on a script by Benedikt Röskau

Photography

Kolja Brandt

Editor

Sven Budelmann

Production designer

Udo Kramer

Sound

Heinz Ebner

Music

Christian Kolonovits

With

Benno Fürmann (Toni Kurz)
,
Johanna Wokalek (Luise Fellner)
,
Florian Lukas (Andi Hinterstoisser)
,
Simon Schwarz (Willy Angerer)
,
Georg Friedrich (Edi Rainer)
,
Ulrich Tukur (Henry Arau)
,
Erwin Steinhauer (Emil Landauer)
,
Petra Morzé (Elisabeth Landauer)
,
Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart (Hans Schlunegger)
,
Branko Samarovski (Albert von Allmen)

Festivals

Locarno, Pusan 2008

Elsewhere

“A mountaineering adventure more tense, more edge-of-the-seat suspenseful, than Touching the Void? Almost incredibly, this German drama, based on a true story, is that film. Benno Fürmann and Florian Lukas play a pair of ace climbers who in July 1936, amid the rabble-rousing propaganda of the Nazis, attempt to scale the north face of the Eiger, otherwise known as the ‘murder wall'... Writer-director Philipp Stölzl evokes a keen sense of period in setting up the story, but once it switches to the mountain face, with avalanches and bitter weather looming ominously, the film becomes as taut as a holding rope.” — Anthony Quinn, The Independent

“A viscerally effective portrayal of man against nature... Brilliantly shot, utterly convincing footage of young men inching up a vertical rock face proves nerve-racking and a worthy tribute to the true-life bravery of 1930s climbers. It's gripping and fascinating in equal measure.” — Trevor Johnson, Film4.com