First Ascent

As we run, the layers of responsibility and identity we have gathered in our lives, the father, mother, lawyer, teacher, Manchester United-supporter labels, all fall away, leaving us with the raw human being underneath. With nothing but our own two legs moving us, we begin to get a vague, tingling sense of who, or what, we really are.

A unique drama about everyday athletes who join an extreme running race. Their dream and burden is to test their personal limits, heal their souls and release their demons.

In October 2014, Steve Wakeford, a sports broadcast editor, fell 70 metres whilst climbing a mountain known as Les Petites Jorasses in the French Alps. It was a fall that required him to be airlifted out of the mountains suffering from a number of serious injuries and resulted in him being temporarily left in a wheelchair - he is lucky to be alive. At the start of a long journey of rehabilitation, he began to ask himself some serious questions - 'Regardless of injury or trauma, why are we drawn to the mountains in the first place? Is risk an essential part of what we do? Perhaps most importantly, why is it that I am planning to climb the same route from which I fell?'

This behind the scenes feature will put you in the minds and on the boards of these athletes as they create a venue that that allows ultimate innovation and creativity outside of what’s traditionally defined as progression in snowboarding.

A touching story of friendship, struggle and triumph, the film follows the journey of two Somali national soccer team friends chasing their dreams in the face of impossible odds. After surviving two decades of war, Saadiq, 17, and Sa’ad, 19, the team’s most promising stars, enter the only televised match of the year hoping scouts will be watching. With passports of no value on the world stage, soccer may be their only shot to escape a growing terror threat, persecution and poverty. Against the backdrop of fear and shared sacrifice, they embark on separate but equally improbable journeys. In the opportunity of a lifetime, Saadiq sets off for America with dreams of an education and a soccer career. Sa’ad continues his career in Mogadishu with the hopes of someday being reunited with his friend. Their biggest dream is shared – to be symbols of hope to generations who have only known war.

When winter swells collide with a chunk of reef off the north shore of Maui, massive waves up to 60 feet rise and crash to create the best big wave on earth. It’s called Peahi, or “Jaws,” and every year it attracts dozens of elite surfers from around the world to attempt the lethal wave. More and more, however, it’s the local crew that steals the show. An eclectic group childhood friends that followed each other into the Jaws lineup as teenagers, and through peer pressure and rivalries, pushed each other to unprecedented performances in the ensuing years. Then came the El Niño of 2016, which promised to serve up the largest swells in big-wave history. Follow the crew for an inside look at a season rife with nerves, injury, triumph and friendship.

No description available.

When ordinary humans failed, Roghaye became a 48-hour superwoman—not to escape death, but to reclaim her ordinary life.

The American mountaineer Gary Hemming marked the era of the 1960s. The story of this "exceptional" character is intimately linked to that of the rescue of the two German mountaineers on the west face of the Drus, in 1966, a rescue which he had took the initiative. While the official emergency services of the EHM try to reach them from above, a pirate rope made up of Gary Hemming, René Desmaison, Lothar Mauch, Gil Bodin, Mike Brurke, François Guillot, the filmmaker Gérard Bauer organizes to join them from below and succeeded after a fierce struggle the rescue. The press seizes the event and elevates Gary Hemming to the rank of national hero. All the newspapers feature this big guy with a cool attitude, mismatched clothes, jovial smile and long blond hair on the front page. From then on, he was nicknamed: "the beatnik of the peaks".

On Planet Red Bull you follow the free skiers Fabian Bösch and Nicolas Vuignier to the mountains, Red Bull Driftbrothers Joe und Elias Hountondji to the racecourse, skateboarder Simon Stricker to the indoor skate park and freestyle motocross racer Mat Rebeaud and his machine to the mountains in Laax. Along with unique and unprecedented footage, you will be up-close when the athletes do their sports – and experience their mindset, emotions, and passion. Therewith Planet Red Bull becomes an unforgettable experience for people of all ages – for all those who love sports and wish to see the world of the adrenaline-filled elite sport from a new angle.

A documentary about climbing in mythical climbing locations with bouldering in grace (Tinos), in South Africa (Rockland), in Italy (Chiomonte) and in Annot (France), on routes in Fournel and Tournoux, all in a friendly atmosphere with a cast of international climbers including Tony Lamiche, Gérôme Pouvreau, François Lombard, Yann Ghesquier, Ben Semiond, Mat Semiond, Vincent Albrand, Wills Young, Isabelle Carrier, Jérémie Pancol, Lionel Daudet & Véro Daudet.

The NPF, a women's professional softball league that few know exists, has spent decades struggling for survival in a male-dominated sports world. Its players are forced to choose between their livelihood and their dreams, and this year they've been given another chance.

"De Pleintjes" is a documentary about Antwerp's street football culture. Rough areas such as Het Kiel, Borgerhout, Deurne and Stuivenberg are the backdrops to the social lives of thousands of youngsters. It's these areas where they grow up, learn about the world, and above all, dream of a better future.

The Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early '90s seemed willing to do anything to win. That characteristic made them loved — and hated. It earned them the title: Bad Boys.

The University of Tennessee lady volunteer basketball team is followed during their 1996 season.

A documentary portrait of a legendary Czech jockey, Josef Vána, reveals his inner world of thoughts. His unique way of life can't be described in words, and this is a first, really original view into his daily life around horses, terrifying accidents, and also stories about his family.

In a world where the spotlight has long been dominated by men, five trailblazing women step into the ring to carve out their place in West Australian wrestling history — leaving behind stories of grit, triumph, rivalry, and legacy. The Femme Fatales of West Australian Wrestling is a powerful documentary that pulls back the curtain on a scene too often overlooked. Through the journeys of five extraordinary wrestlers — Chili, Harli Hyde, Layla Divine, Michelle K Hasluck, and Roxy Ryot — we explore the highs and hardships of carving a path in a male-dominated sport.

Charts the remarkable rise of Australian basketball, following the real stories of the players and coaches responsible for the sport's ascendancy, and the events that changed Australian basketball forever.

From the Austrian Alps to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Marco Rossi's path to the NHL has been both unique and challenging. Take a look at the life on and off the rink of the rookie centerman.

In 1950, the explorer Roger Frison-Roche made a crossing of more than a thousand kilometers on the back of a camel with the photographer Georges Tairraz II, in the heart of the Sahara, from Hoggar then Djanet in Algeria to Ghat in Libya. From their journey they brought back a large number of color films and documents. Among thousands of photos, they selected 47 images which reflect the various aspects of these immense spaces which occupy a third of Africa in the book "The Great Desert". “The Great Desert, 1000 kilometers on camelback” is the eponymous 85-minute documentary of this epic, released in 1950.