Film

L'escalade libérée

Antoine Le Menestrel, former high-level climber, tells us with sincerity and sensitivity, his history at the cliff of Buoux, France and his vision of climbing today.
 

About

Running time

26 minutes

Country / Nationality

France

Our Judges say:

French climbing philosophy, stunning routes, artsy moves!

Anna Paxton

Gorgeous film describing an idyllic time of opening up new routes in Buoux in in south eastern France. A beautiful meditation on the transcendence of climbing which is enhanced by being entirely French language.

Paul Hodgson Music Judge

Antoine Le Menestrel, former high level climber, tells us with sincerity and sensitivity, his story at the cliff of Buoux, France and his vision of climbing today. From his discovery of Buoux being very young with his brother and his parents, he will discover this cliff and the work of opening up routes. A part of the history of climbing is written here in Buoux, notably with the "Parisian band" of which he is part and the first 8A. Antoine also tells us about his state of mind at that time, his questions about the meaning of life, of his life. He goes back in routes like “Rêve de papillon”, “La rose des sables” or even “La rose et le vampire” to guide us. At 55, he expresses his climbing, as a freed climbing. Freed from the constraints linked to the ethics of climbing, this ethics of which he was himself the missionary when he was younger. Learn to love the path, and not the goal, take care of your body and share the climb. A sensitive and aesthetic documentary, which shows climbing from another angle.