A few days after the bloody spring of Peking a French expedition obtained permission from the Chinese government to deposit the universal declaration of human rights on the summit of Everest. The historical nature of this mission is blended with its sporting activity to form an allegory where the often cruel reality of local events are in contrast with the concepts of freedom contained in the declaration of rights.
The unedited documentation in the film illustrates how alpinists and tourists, as spectators, are faced with the problem of responsability of giving evidence in a clear and active manner.
Director
BERNARD GERMAIN
Bernard Germain graduated from the Paris Sorbonne University; he is a mountain guide. He runs La Montagne et l'Alpinisme, the magazine of the French Alpine Club. He has made several films which have influenced mountain cinema, including Annapurna - 1.er 8000 à ski, Un pic pour Lénin, Le concerto d'Alaska, winning the City of Trento Grand Prize in 1983, and Désire d'Everest, which won the Golden Gentian for Best Mountaineering Film in 1991.