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The passionate photographer and mountaineer Arnold Fanck had his first brush with the world of film in 1913, when he participated in a short about the ascent of Monte Rosa. After the first world war, he set out to form the independent production company Berg- und Sport-Film with his associate Odo Deodatus Tauern. Here he starred in, wrote, directed, filmed, edited and produced their first film DAS WUNDER DES SCHNEESCHUHS, to fulfil his vision of displaying the art of skiing in motion instead of still photography. Being a surprise box-office hit, it widely popularized winter sports in Germany, while Arnold Fanck astonished filmmakers like Fritz Lang and critics like Siegfried Kracauer with his outstanding instinct for composition, rhythm and the beauty of nature, which should all become hallmarks of his style in the coming years.
While mostly incomplete elements of the film survive today, including fragments of the original negative, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung was able to combine and structure them according to duplicates of a lost nitrate print. This led to a comprehensive reconstruction, allowing the now almost complete film to be available once again – in 4K and in a superb visual quality that has not been seen for many years. The project was made possible by the funding of the FFE - Förderprogramm Filmerbe.
Language: Without dialogue
Subtitles: Italian
