9:00 a.m.

Marco, étoile filante (Marco — Shooting Star)

France, 2004, 52 minutes
Directed by Bertrand Delapierre
Produced by Séverine Gauci

On September 8, 2002, Marco Siffredi, 23, stood clipped into his snowboard on the summit of Everest, ready to start his descent of the Hornbein Couloir. A year earlier, he had become the first person to snowboard down Everest. On this more direct line, however, all trace of him was lost. Marco’s friend Bertrand Delapierre has opened up his archives to give us this portrait of an exceptional young man.

10:01 a.m.

9:59 a.m.

First Ascent: The Obscurist

USA, 2006, 12 minutes
Directed by Peter Mortimer (appearing in person)
Produced by Peter Mortimer, Timmy O’Neill (appearing in person), Nick Rosen

Dynamic duo Cedar Wright and Ivo Ninov take us on a fun-filled “suffer-fest” on the steep, hard roof cracks in Yosemite Valley, seeking out the area’s few remaining first ascents.

10:16 a.m.

10:12 a.m.

Mountains without Barriers

USA, 2006, 24 minutes
Directed by Michael Brown
Produced by Mark Wellman, Dave D’Angelo
Website: www.seracfilms.com

Two blind men and a man with no legs tackle a 1000-foot rock tower in Italy. They are here as part of a festival called No Barriers, whose principal aim is to facilitate knowledge exchange among people with disabilities and those who create assistive technologies.

11:03 a.m.

10:52 a.m.

Asiemut

Canada, 2006, 56 minutes
Directed and produced by Olivier Higgins (appearing in person), Mélanie Carrier (appearing in person)

In 2005, Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier went on their first cycling expedition — 8000 kilometres across Asia. In six months they pedalled from Mongolia to Calcutta, India, travelling through Xinjiang, the Taklimakan Desert, the high Tibetan plateau and the jungle of Nepal. Why? Not only to discover the world, but also to discover themselves.

2:00 p.m.

2:15 p.m.

Cherub of the Mist

India, 2006, 53 minutes
Directed by Naresh Bedi
Produced by Naresh Bedi, Rajesh Bedi

Deep in the misty eastern Himalayas lives a rare and elusive animal hardly seen or studied in the wild: the “fire cat”, or red panda. Cherub of the Mist follows two zoo-bred pandas as they become the first ever released into Singalila National Park. The film reveals for the first time the courtship, mating, nest building, and rearing of newborn cubs of this highly secretive, bamboo-eating carnivore.

2:56 p.m.

3:09 p.m.

Cobra Crack

Canada, 2006, 12 minutes
Directed and produced by Sonnie Trotter (appearing in person)
In person: Paul Bride

In this film, Canadian Sonnie Trotter free climbs Squamish’s forty-metre Cobra Crack in June 2006, after three years of work. It is currently recognized as the world’s hardest traditional climb.

3:11 p.m.

3:22 p.m.

Exploring the Mother of Waters

Australia, 2006, 45 minutes
Directed by Mick O’Shea (appearing in person), Brian Eustis
Produced by Mick O’Shea
Website: www.mekongfirstdescent.org

The first-ever complete navigation of the Mekong River from its source in Tibet to the South China Sea was completed by Australian filmmaker and extreme kayaker Mick O’Shea in 2004. Via this cutting-edge expedition, the film explores and celebrates the diverse cultures and environments of the Mekong valley while exposing some of the most pressing human-rights and resource-rights issues facing the region’s subsistence cultures.

4:19 p.m.

4:23 p.m.

Thunderbird

USA, 2006, 12 minutes
Produced by Chris Alstrin (appearing in person)

Follow Mike Anderson and Rob Pizem as they free the biggest route in Zion. Thunderbird Wall has only had a handful of aid ascents. These two will work their hardest to free this spectacular wall.

4:34 p.m.

4:36 p.m.

Ride of the Mergansers

USA, 2004, 11 minutes
Produced by Steve Furman
Website: www.rideofthemergansers.com

The hooded merganser is a rare and reclusive duck found only in North America. Every spring, in the Great Lakes region, the wary hen lays and incubates her eggs in a nest high in the trees. Just 24 hours after hatching, the tiny ducklings must make the perilous leap to the ground below in order to begin life in the wild. Ride of the Mergansers brings this hidden drama to the screen.

4:48 p.m.

4:48 p.m.

E11

UK, 2006, 41 minutes
Directed by Paul Diffley (appearing in person)
Produced by David Brown (appearing in person)
North American Premiere
In person: Dave McLeod

One of the world’s best all-round climbers seeks to take traditional rock climbing to the next level of difficulty — and, inevitably, danger. The intimidating rock face protecting the seaward flanks of Dumbarton Castle in Scotland is the scene of Dave MacLeod’s very personal battle. The film reveals the dedication, frustrations, and sheer physical and mental effort that goes into MacLeod’s climbing. Relationships become strained as he struggles to cope with the difficulty and seriousness of the endeavour. Doggedly, even obsessively, he keeps returning to his “ultimate” project.