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The Gate of Heaven (1980)

The Gate of Heaven (1980)

Documentary
Release Date: 1980, January 1
Directors: Henri Agresti
Countries: France
Cast: Jean-Marc Troussier, Henri Agresti, Isabelle Agresti, Jean-Claude Droyer, Stéphane Troussier, Bernard Gorgeon, Christian Guyomar, Roger Verdegen, Martine Rolland, Jean-Jacques Rolland, Jacques Keller, Jacques Nosley

Overview:

A legendary film in the history of rock climbing in the Verdon Gorges, shot in 16mm between the autumn of 1978 and the spring of 1979 by Henri Agresti, a high mountain guide. For the first time, acrobatic shots were taken on the walls of the Verdon. We rediscover a whole generation of pioneers on routes like Dingomaniaque, Triomphe d'Eros, Péril rouge, Luna Bong, Pichenibule or Necronomicon, routes which, like Dingomanique or Triomphe d'Eros, had just been opened. We witnessed a major turning point in the style and possibilities of rock climbing at the end of the 1970s: anchors sealed by drilling used as belaying and no longer as aids, new equipment: climbing shoes and chalk, harnesses and figure eights. Henri Agresti's unfinished and silent film, lasting around fifty minutes, was presented in the form of a nine-minute fragment at the Trento Film Festival in 1981.

Keywords:

free climbing french climbers mountain documentary escalade arrampicata free climbing pionniers gorges du verdon sports history