Accessibility: Subtitled / Captioned Screening
Mountaineer Brian Hall became curious after discovering that a friend had helped break a world record in 1976 by walking backwards 80 miles in the UK, from Leeds to Kendal in 24 hours. Investigation revealed a history of retro walking that stretched back over two centuries, which included an attempt to walk backwards around the world, and a backwards mountaineering ascent and descent of Kilimanjaro. Furthermore, there exists a culture of athletic training and injury rehabilitation, with incredible feats of retro running having been recorded over distances from the marathon to one hundred metres.
Mountaineer, Author and Film Maker.
Brought up in Kendal, Brian started climbing at sixteen in the English Lake District. Gaining a Geography degree at Leeds University and a Masters in Ecology at UCNW Bangor.
Mountaineering soon consumed his life. He experienced expeditions at the highest level in the Himalayas, Karakorum, and the Andes, including Everest (in winter), K2, Jannu, and Nuptse. After gaining IFMGA Mountain Guide qualifications, he moved to Chamonix, France.
In 1980, he co-founded and directed (with John Porter) the Kendal Mountain Film Festival, and when they passed it on to a new team in 2008, it had become the major mountain festival in the UK.
In recent years, Brian’s focus has been advising on safety, rigging, and location in the film industry. Including the BAFTA-winning film Touching the Void and its sequel, the Emmy-winning Beckoning Silence. Also, Bridget Jones, the Bond Die another Day, Alien vs Predator, Descent, Shackleton and the Everest feature film.
He co-produced films, including The Bat, Balance of Risk and the 2017 award-winning feature documentary Bonington Mountaineer. In 2019, he attended the Banff Mountain Wilderness Writing Program, where he started to pen High Risk – Climbing to Extinction. Published in 2022, his memoir
A freelance Director, DOP and Photographer based in Sheffield and London. I’ve been making films for over a decade. I have directed, produced, shot and edited films for a range of clients including the BBC, The Guardian, Vice, NME, Moon Climbing and University of Sheffield. I was brought up in a climbing family, hearing lots of stories about adventurous, heroic and often dangerous endeavours… Needless to say, these early tales had a big impact on me; both through the adventures I now seek out and the stories I feel inspired to tell. Before I picked up a camera professionally, I worked in the rope access world, leading teams on-and-offshore for a number of years. Then the creative drive took over and I went on to study film production, graduating with first-class honours. This climbing and film background has supported me in combining my love of adventure with storytelling.
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