SCHED: SF International Film Fest '08

Links: Event Details/ Who's going | Original Source
About: In 1972, a plane carrying a young Uruguayan rugby team to Chile crashed high in the Andean Cordillera. Roughly half of the 45 passengers die on impact or from injuries in the following days. A week later, their transistor radio announces that brutal conditions have forced an end to the rescue search. A month in, more die in an avalanche that buries the broken fuselage in which they sleep. The weather worsens. Rations run out. The remaining young men cling to life, waiting for spring and the search to resume. As days go by they weaken further. Three die in their sleep. Finally, unwilling to wait for death to claim them all, two hike out of the "Valley of Tears," over ridge after ridge, through blizzards and waist-deep drifts, in threadbare clothing, without equipment, to a shepherd's cottage far below, and arrange the rescue of their remaining 14 friends. In all, the group spends 72 days on the mountain, in unimaginable conditions. Many are familiar with this extraordinary tale of courage and endurance from Piers Paul Reads' bestseller Alive! or the 1993 fictionalized screen adaptation. But even those who know the story will be amazed and deeply moved by the profound humanity of Gonzalo Arijon's sublime documentary account. Arijon, a boyhood friend of many of the survivors, creates a seamless tale at once dreamlike and concrete, weaving together unflinchingly honest on-camera interviews, brilliant dramatic recreation and an astonishing present-day trip to the crash site by survivors and their families. This rare work combines consummate cinematic skill with unforgettable moral impact.-Graham Leggat Sponsored by Whole Earth Films.
Also playing on: Sun 4/27, 2:45 pm | Tue 4/29, 3:15 pm
Tags: documentaries