Meru

[projekktor id=’20641′]

Meru is a climbing documentary directed by Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi that premiered at Sundance this year and won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary.

After suffering dramatic set backs in their lives, three close friends who are among the world’s best professional climbers battle their complicated pasts, inner demons and nature’s harshest elements in an attempt to confront the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most technically complicated and dangerous peak in the Himalayas, one that has never been scaled to completion.

“I’ve spent much of my life in the mountains as both a climber and as a professional photographer,” sats Chin. “I always wanted to make a film that gave an audience the visceral experience of going on a difficult alpine big wall climb. I hoped to give people a glimpse of the stakes, the risks and sacrifices involved. But I also wanted to show that following your passions is not always a beautiful thing. It can be fraught with internal conflict, doubt and intractable compromise. I often ask myself: Where do you draw the line between following your heart and your responsibility to others? I always say the rules of filming on a mountain climb are fairly straightforward. Shoot whenever you can. Don’t hold up the team. And don’t drop the camera.”

Meru is rated 14A.